Snake of the Fire Nation
by Askaroth
Summary: Her master gave her a simple mission... spread despair in the world. Luckily for her, there was an entire nation eager to conquer the world. With her power and inmortality, she took the Fire Nation to victory, well... almost. The Avatar has returned but maybe this time... not even all his past lives would be enought to face this challenge. (Small crossover with Naruto AU)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello, Askaroth here. First: Avatar doesn´t belong to me, only my oc.**

 **Second: Hope you enjoy reading. Leave a comment if you like it, I like to read your opinion.**

 **"** hello there" normal voice

" _Hello there"_ inner voice

" **General Kenoby** " demonic voice

Snake of the Fire Nation

Prologue

If there was something that she hated deeply … it was random portal openings. She despised with all her might entering the dimensional fissures of her master and then being thrown into the sky and falling like a meteor before being able to summon her fire wings. The first portal had thrown her into a hideous and smelly swamp and the second left her stranded in a dessert island in the middle of the ocean.

Now the third one had launched her through the nocturnal sky at high speed. Without time to think and the feeling of falling overwhelming her senses, she took the better option. Cover herself with her characteristic white fire and soften the landing.

From the balcony in his palace, Fire Lord Sozin was contemplating the ocean with his gaze fixed in an island that was barely visible on the horizon. Even if the moon light was not enough to see anything in the darkness of the calm waters, he has long ago memorized the position of the island. Sozin was a tall man, white grizzly hair and bear with a lot of wrinkles in his face and golden tired eyes that showed his true age. He was wearing a long red tunic with gold trims and his hair was tied on a bun with a gold headpiece in the shape of a flame with five prongs to look like a crown. Every time he looked to that place, his eyes were filled with rage and resentment and for one simple motive. It was Avatar´s Roku home. Once his best friend, now nothing more than an obstacle to his vision of a united world. He couldn´t rise his army without drawing attention from the Avatar. As long as Roku was alive, his dream was only that, a dream.

Just when he was going to leave the balcony, he spotted a shiny white light in the night sky that was bigger than any star that he knew of. His gaze became fixed on it and it became clearer that it was moving… in a collision course with his palace. Just before it reached his walls, it crashed on the beach in front of his balcony.

The Fire Lord and ten of his elite soldiers, went down to the beach to investigate what have just landed in front of his home. What he found in the crater of sand and glass was… breathtaking. In the center of the crash, was the body of a large and long snake with red scales and black spots joined by the hip to a young woman with dark orange long hair. She was wearing a crimson armor with the finest ornaments of draconic figures that Sozin has ever seen and a helmet with the shape of a ferocious snake with its mouth opened in a threatening way.

"¡Spirits! What kind of creature is that?" Asked astounded one of the soldiers while he pointed his spear to her ready to use it against her.

Sozin was entranced by the sight in front of him. He would have approached her if she hadn´t decided to open her eyes and rise on her tail. Her beautiful emerald orbs pierced his soul with such easiness and power that he understood that he was in front of a creature beyond him. Keeping his composure and calm, Sozin raised his hand to prevent his soldiers from attacking.

Crystal looked her surroundings with a lazy eye until her eyes laid upon the old man in the group. He carried himself differently, with a dignified look and posture and his clothes were a clear sign of nobility. " _At last luck smiles upon us"_ whispered a sinister voice in her head.

"Who or what are you?" Asked the elder with authority. She analyzed him from head to toe and was satisfied with her findings.

One of the soldiers though that she took to long to answer so he decided to lash verbally at her. "The Fire Lord made a question, freak. ¡Answer now! Unless you don´t know how to talk"

"Fire Lord?" She feigned curiosity "Ahh, that was the tittle of the royalty in these lands. Right?"

"He is the ruler of all the Fire Nation. The most prosperous and advanced kingdom of all the four nations." Explained another soldier with a more calmed tone. "Are you… by any chance… a spirit?"

Crystal smirked inwardly at the chance to fool the all and took it without hesitating. "Well yes, I am a spirit. A naga to be more exactly. I was send to this world to fulfill the will of my master. And you…" She said with a cold and scary voice while pointing her finger at Sozin. "You are the mortal that he has selected for me to help. He can see it in your soul. You are desperate for starting a great vision of the future, but something is blocking you from making it real." She lied through her teeth. Her master only gave her that information to work with and she needed to look convincing.

" _And we will sink this world under an overwhelming ocean of despair._ " Spoke again the voice in her head.

The soft silence of the summer night was interrupted by the raspy laugh of the Fire Lord. "Tell me, oh great spirit… How would you convince the Avatar to allow me to fulfill that dream?" Sozin looked sceptic to her claim but was hopping she was saying the truth.

Crystal smiled with malice, allowing the men to see her sharp fangs. The tip of her tail ignited and was covered in a marvelous white flame while her green eyes turned bloody red. " **Kukuku. You shouldn´t doubt the word of a spirit. It could bring you a lot of misfortune**." Her voice was more dark and sinister than before. That wasn´t Crystal standing before them. No. This was her other half. The voice in her head. The monster that would took care of fulfilling her mission no matter how much blood she spilled. And her name was Crisis.

 _Water. Earth. Fire. Aire._

 _This world was a boring and peaceful place before I came here. The Earth Kingdom, The Water Tribes, The Air nomads and the Fire Nation lived in relative harmony._

 _Until I changed everything._

 _Only the Avatar, the master of the four elements gave me a challenge. But he was simply too old. So, I killed him._

 _Leaded by me, the Fire Nation started a campaign to conquer the world. People has started to call me by a name that I became quite fond of… The White Flame._

 _Even after one hundred years, my master doesn´t allow me to destroy personally the capitals of the Water Tribe and the Earth Kingdom. I must wait for a competent leader to take the initiative. Meanwhile the Avatar never showed up again, and I´m beginning to lose patience._

 _This place is so boring. I wish I could visit my beloved more frequently. His world was more interesting than these. Well, I just hope I can finish this job soon. Crisis is also starting to lose patience and take control too often._


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello there, Askaroth here. I just want to say that Avatar doesn´t belong to me. Only the oc.**

 **Hope you enjoy and leave a comment if you did. I like to know what you think.**

 **"** Hello there" normal talking

" _Hello there"_ inner talking

 **"¡General Kenobi!"** demonic talking

Snake of the Fire Nation

Chapter 1

In a harbor controlled by the Fire Nation, an outdated and small cruiser was approaching the docks to disembark and be repaired. The overall ship and engine was damaged and they couldn´t endure a voyage through the sea unless it was fixed. When they landed, the difference in size with other war vessels was remarkable. It was at least a third of the other cruisers. Two figures descended from the ship´s deck. One was a young teenager with white skin, golden eyes, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail and a big burn scar over his left eye and cheek and he was wearing a traditional dark red armor with light brown pants and pointy black boots. His name was Zuko and he was the exiled prince of the Fire Nation. The man beside him was old, with a little overweight, grey grizzly hair, bald at the front and a bear parted in three parts. He was wearing a light red robe with a bit of armor on the shoulders and torso. His name was Iroh, Zuko´s uncle and retired general of the Fire Nation army.

"We need to make repairs immediately. We cannot linger here and risk losing him" The young prince was looking forward to get out of there as soon as possible.

"Losing him? You mean the Avatar?" Asked his uncle with a calm tone.

"¡Don´t mention his name in these docks!" He hushed with anger. "If someone hears that he is alive everyone will be after him. And I don´t need the entire army competing against me." After two long year of exile, he had finally found the Avatar and managed to capture him. He was surprised that instead of an elder man, he found a twelve-year-old kid. Zuko underestimated him for that detail and ended up losing him when he escaped in a flying bison, damaging his ship in the process.

"Against you in what? Prince Zuko" Interrupted a voice behind them. A tall man with dark brown hair, large sideburns, angular and cruel face with amber calculating eyes walked slowly to them. He exuded an air of confident arrogance while his posture demanded respect.

"Captain Zhao". Zuko acknowledged him with cold curtesy.

"It´s commander now." Corrected Zhao without looking at him. "General Iroh. Great hero of our nation." Greeted the commander with a small but respectful bow. "You two know that you are welcome here anytime, gentleman. Tell me… What brings you to this place?"

"Our ship is being fixed." Explained Iroh in a neutral voice.

"That is some serious damage there. What happened?" Zhao was truly intrigued about it.

"You are not going to believe it…" Started Zuko, only to realize that he didn´t have a credible lie. "Uncle… tell the commander what happened."

Iroh used all his cunning to create a believable excuse in less than three seconds. "Yes… I will. It was horrible. Well… did we crash or something?" It seemed like three seconds wasn´t enough for him.

"That´s right. Just in the middle of an earth kingdom ship" Finished the young prince with some doubt in his voice. Something that Zhao didn´t miss and kept his grin hidden it very well.

"Really? Maybe you should come with me to drink something and tell me all the details of your unfortunate encounter."

Zuko wanted to reject the offer with all his might but his uncle insisted on being respectful and accept. "Do you have Jin Sen Tea? it's my favorite."

A little bit latter, the three of them where in a campaign tent. Iroh was inspecting a small weapon exhibition, Zuko was sited in front of a little table with a tea pot and three cups and Zhao was looking at a map of the four nations.

"… And when the year ends, the earth kingdom capital will be under our rule and the Fire Lord will claim the victory in this war." Zhao monologued with pride like a true patriot while he took a seat next to Zuko.

"My father will claim victory? Or the White Flame? Is thanks to her that the Fire Nation has won all the important battles. If someone deserves the glory once this war ends, is her, not my father." Countered Zuko with a leveled tone.

"Two years in the sea have done little to temper your tongue. You may not know this, but the White Flame has been inactive since your exile, prince. I have seen her coming and going without direction in her personal ship. Visiting the colonies and fortress on a whim. I´m afraid that… if she doesn´t takes part in this last assault, her position as the greatest hero of our nation will be relegated to second place." Explained the commander with pity.

Iroh was listening to the conversation intently but he pretended that he was inspecting the four nations map. He frowned when he heard the mention of the White Flame. He, like many others, was influenced by her ideals of greatness and conquest and vowed to take the earth kingdom capital just to impress her. In the end, the only thing he got was the dead body of his beloved son Lu Ten in his assault to Ba Sing Se. Now he was worried that Zuko would repeat his mistake and fell under the spell of the envoy of Agni.

"It´s not fair. We cannot disgrace her like that. If we do, the Fire Nation will be in danger. Believe me… not even my father would dare to face her in an Agni Kai." Protested Zuko, a serious look in his eyes and cold demeanor while inside he was furious. The White Flame has been his teacher and master to fire bend since he was little along his sister Azula. She never belittled him like his father, always fair and patient. Every time he failed to do the basics, she inspired him to rise again and be better. Even when Azula was a prodigy and Ozai declared him a failure, she refused to abandon him. Her words of inspiration still resonated in his head and took him to learn to use swords to compensate for his lesser bending control.

"Hmm, you may be right. We cannot risk the safety of our nation for something like that. Now... I want to know something else… How is your search for the Avatar going?" Asked the commander, his only intention to have a chance to add salt to his wounds.

"We haven´t find him yet" Lied the prince too quickly and no emotion in his voice.

"Do you really expect to do it?" Criticized Zhao. "The Avatar was killed one hundred years ago with the air benders. Not even your master has found any clues about the new Avatar in all the time that this war has been going. Unless of course that you do have evidence that he is alive." Insisted the commander, his tone turning more annoying for the ears of the prince.

"No, I don´t have any." He feigned a defeated tone, but Zhao didn´t believe him.

"Prince Zuko, the Avatar is the only one that can stand between the Fire Nation and absolute victory. If you have any trace of loyalty left… you should tell me everything you know." Zhao stopped playing the nice host and stood up, showing his authority and looking threatening just to intimidate him.

The teenager looked him in the eyes with indifference. "I haven´t found anything. As you already said, he died long ago. Probably at the hands of my master without anyone knowing about it. Uncle, we are leaving." He stood up an was walking to the exit but he was blocked by two soldiers with spears.

A third soldier passed next to him and gave Zhao a report. "Commander, we questioned the crew as you ordered. They confirmed that prince Zuko had the Avatar imprisoned, but he let him escape."

"No refresh my memory please, how was your ship damaged?"

* * *

Many would consider her a heartless and ruthless monster. A being that spread despair and terror in the hearts of men and causes the women to weep and cry because they know that they will become widows or that they would lose their sons. Others would call her the greatest heroine of the Fire Nation and the most powerful fire bender in all history. And a small number of brainless perverts with no appreciation of their lives would try to propose to her or make romantic advances just to be vaporized with her fire. They all failed to see that all that was only a bluff, a mask. In this world she couldn´t have the luxury of showing her true face. They only deserved Crisis, or the White Flame.

Crystal Balkran, supreme general of the armies of the Fire Nation was visiting a harbor just to give the new appointed commander a surprise inspection. Even with her high rank, she used simple clothes. A black tight robe with red baggy pants, dark red pointy boots, a silver belt and a crimson cloak with high neck with golden trims. The bottom half of her body was now human thanks to the ability to transform given to her by her master along with immortality and other things. Her long orange hair was tied in a ponytail that reached to her middle back by a golden fire ornament.

She approached the main tent and the guards froze once they saw her. They were going to announce her arrival, but she stopped them by just raising her hand and signaled them to get out. Both men tensed but complied to her order without hesitating. Crystal came closer to the entrance and stood still.

Inside the tent she could hear a mocking laugh that she knew too well. It belonged to a certain fire bender she wasn´t to fond of. "You? Stop me? Impossible." Said the man still laughing.

" ¡Do not underestimate me Zhao! I will capture the Avatar before you." The other voice was young and bold. From a teenager she would bet. The mention of the Avatar surprised her, but she wasn´t concerned in the sightless. She grinned wickedly when she managed to identify the second voice before a third one called for his name trying to calm him.

" _It seems my little apprentice has gotten some backbone in this years of exile."_ She though while the conversation elevated into a heated argument. " _I wonder if Iroh has managed to corrupt him with his pacifist ideals or if we are still on time to bring him to our side._ " Commented Crisis, not even doubting to sacrifice the prince as a simple pawn if it was needed.

"… If your father really cared about you, he would have already let you come back, Avatar or not. But to him you are nothing more than a failure and a disappointment." Zhao´s voice was slow and venomous. Each word sinking into the young prince like daggers.

" _Ouch. That was a low blow Zhao._ " A small and sadistic smile on her lips. " _Come on Zuko, don´t let him push you around_ "

"¡That´s not true!" Denied Zuko with anger.

" _Weak, do it better_ " Complained Crisis and Crystal at the same time.

"Your scar is the prove." Replied the commander with malice.

"Do you want me to give you one?" Challenged the exiled prince, full of anger ready to be unleashed.

" _Much better. You are closer now… just say it._ " Crystal licked her lips as if she could taste her victory. Crisis´s presence taking control for just an instant.

"Is that a challenge?"

"Agni Kai. At dusk." Zuko´s voice was more collected but still serious.

" _Excellent my apprentice. You are now one step closer for your transformation._ " Crisis celebrated while Crystal waited for Zhao´s response.

"Good. A shame that nor your father nor your master will be here to watch your humiliation… but I suppose that your uncle will do." Once the commander accepted the challenge, Crystal decided to enter. The men inside turned to watch the new comer and all of them where truly surprised to see her and made a deep bow in respect to her presence.

"Am I interrupting something?" She asked with an innocent face.

"General Balkran, what an honor to have you in this humble harbor. How can I be of help, if you allow me to ask you?" Zhao´s attitude turned 180° and was now pure courtesy and service. Zuko raised his only eyebrow at the sight but remained quiet.

"To be honest I was just going to make a surprise inspection and congratulate you for your new rank. Now I find that the ex-student of an old apprentice of mine will be fighting against my current apprentice." Crystal looked exited for the coming battle, but Iron glared at her, distrust evident in his eyes. " _Yeah, right. We only wanted to torture you to pass the day._ "

"I´m thankful for your kind words, General. We can start the inspection right now if you wish. We have until dusk" Offered Zhao with the outmost care of not insulting her. She nodded but didn´t gave signs to moving anywhere.

"I would like a moment alone with the prince and his uncle if you don't mind" The kindness in her voice was just hiding a threat as clear as the sun if he decided to defy her. The commander nodded with a forced smile to hide his shivers and went outside the tent. The White Flame had now her full attention in her apprentice who had the decency to look ashamed. "Zuko… the last time we talked was two years ago. How is your journey around the world going?" This time she looked more like a concerned mother hugging a son that she hasn´t seen for a long time. Only him and another person was able to break her mask in this world, even if it was just a little.

"It has been tough." Admitted the prince with a tired tone, as if the burden of the years far from home suddenly crashed on his shoulders. "I must admit that it wasn´t for your teachings, I would have given up long time ago."

"Hmm. Tell me… is there any girl that I should worry about from stealing my favorite apprentice? Should I tell the poor May that she has a love rival?" Joked the General in a playful tone while Zuko blushed from such a teasing question. Crystal then shifted her attention to Iroh who remained still and collected under her piercing gaze which many people often compared with that of the dragons. The funny thing was that they all said that hers was much worse. "I guess that you have been training my apprentice even after telling you specifically that I didn´t want you near him" Her voice was cold, colder than the frozen sea of the poles and Iroh, after all his years of experience and combat, still shivered after hearing it. But even with all the danger that Crystal represented, he didn´t back away.

"You left him alone when he was exiled, General. I wasn´t going to stay still when he was being thrown to the wolfs." Answered the retired General with a steeled resolve.

"Tch. I would have taken him with me if Ozai hadn´t forbid me from doing it." She ignored Iroh´s critics as if he wasn´t even there. "In revenge for that stupid order I decided to leave the war effort for a while and search for the Avatar just to help him. Unfortunately, I didn´t succeed in my search. But now… I have the luck to hear that my apprentice has not only find him, but he managed to capture him. Oh, you don´t know how proud I am of you. _And Crisis hadn´t stop bothering me for it._ "

"Really" Zuko´s eyes lit up full of surprise and confusion. "You aren´t angry because he escaped?"

"Of course not. If my apprentice was able to apprehend him at the first try… what makes you think I will have any difficulty in eliminating him?" Her declaration sounded so arrogant and overconfident that Zuko thought for a second that Zhao was back in the tent. "Oh well… I have a harbor to inspect and a commander to torture for all those nasty comments. I hope to see how much you have grown this evening, Zuko." Once she finished talking, she left the tent to search for Zhao.

* * *

Zuko was happy for talking with his master again. She always knew how to cheer him up, but something wasn´t right. "Uncle… what´s your story with General Balkran?" Asked the prince in hopes of finding the reason of why those two couldn´t get along.

Iroh sighed tiredly. For a long minute he didn´t say anything. When Zuko thought he wasn´t going to response his uncle talked. "Just like you and your sister, Ozai and I where her apprentices. I was entranced by her words of greatness and power. I felt invincible and capable of conquering the world thanks to her teachings. And I manage to do it in Ba Sing Se. But she never mentioned the price to pay for all that power." The sadness in his voice was overwhelming but he recomposed rapidly. "Don´t let her deceive you, nephew. The power may be real, but the cost is just too much."

" _You blame her for Lu Ten´s death._ " Deduced Zuko, not daring to say it out loud.

 **And cut. The next chapter will come soon, but it will only reach the end of the cannon chapter**


	3. Chapter 2 point 5

**Hello there, Askaroth here.**

 **Here is the continuation of the previous chapter. It may be short but is a closure to chapter 1.**

"Hello there" normal talking

" _Hello there_ " inner talking

" **General Kenobi!** " demonic talking

Snake of the Fire Nation

Chapter 1.5

The dusk came so soon that Crystal needed to be reminded by the guards to not miss the Agni Kai. After two hours of bothering Zhao by small details such as the scarce security in the north sector of the perimeter or the lack of matutine training for the troops. She decided to ditch the inspection after declaring the place as barely secure by her standards. Crisis was screaming in her mind to use one of her infamous punishments with the commander, but she ignored her as usual.

The arena for the Agni Kai was a large square stone yard surrounded by four metal walls with a watch tower in each corner and an open great double door that leaded to the docks. The sky was showing the glorious colors of the Fire Nation, red, orange and yellow. Both combatants were waiting for her with the knee bended and giving each other the back. Zhao had four guards by his side while Zuko only had his uncle. When her steps where the only thing that resonated on the yard, both men raised and turned around, letting a long red cloth fall from their backs. Now they were only using long red trousers, nothing else.

Crystal stood in the middle of the arena between them but a couple steps on the side to not interfere. Zhao smirked with confidence while he bragged about how fast all this would end. Iroh gave Zuko advice about breaking the roots of his opponent and a minute later, the Agni Kai started with a loud gong that was over the wall.

They both took fire bending stances and the prince was the first to attack. He threw a fire ball that the commander dodged by just stepping aside. Zuko repeated it again and again, but Zhao dodged it easily again for his anger and frustration. The last one was countered with just a punch from the older man while showing an arrogant smirk. Zuko lost it and started to attack using a combination of fire punches and kicks, launching multiple torrents of fire to his opponent. Zhao blocked each and every one of those attacks by raising fire walls at the last second.

" _Control, Zuko. Attacking without it is a rookie mistake. Too easy to read by someone of Zhao´s level to counter and nullify your attacks._ " Analyzed Crystal with critic eye. One of the fire waves from her apprentice turned out to be too wide and reached where she was. She didn´t even blink and dispersed the attack by just backslapping it.

At the end of his combo, the prince launched a massive and straight wave of fire to his opponent, but Zhao took it straight on using his bending to create a spear that cut in two the attack like a massive rock to a river. After all those attacks, Zuko was breathing hard and looked exhausted. Iroh was beginning to worry and tried to remind his nephew about breaking the root. The commander took this as an opportunity and began his ruthless attack. His fire balls where precise and quick, making Zuko blocking them but backing away after each one. The prince was trying to think how to counter when one of the fire balls managed to hit him on the stomach leaving some minor burns and making him drop on his back.

Zhao didn´t gave him time to recover and jumped with his fist ignited in fire.

" _Come on prince, don´t disappoint us. I know that you still have the strength to turn this game on your favor._ _Show us that we didn´t waste our time teaching you._ " Crisis was watching restless the combat and her complains were starting to piss Crystal off.

Zuko watched the flames come closer to his face ready to make another scar to match the one he already had. He froze for a millisecond, but it felt like an eternity for him. The instinct that her master implanted on his mind acted and saved him from a painful defeat. He rolled backwards just as Zhao was upon him, making him punch the ground and grunt in pain. Droved by a raging impulse, Zuko stood up with a jump and punched Zhao in the gut with a fire fist, followed by an upper cut to the chin.

The commander fell on his back and Zuko pointed his flaming fist to his face. Their eyes meet by a brief moment, full of adrenaline and fury. "¡Come on, do it!" Challenged Zhao, no fear for what he was really asking.

"¡ _Do it! Show me that you can be ruthless. Show him the pain you have suffered_ " Roared Crisis inside her mind. She was disappointed to see that he changed his target at the last second, burning the ground instead of Zhao´s head.

"That´s all? ¡Your father raised a coward!" Seethed the commander, worth full of hate.

"Next time I will you stand in my way I will end you" Warned Zuko with a dark look in his eyes that comforted Crystal. It was the prove that his apprentice was not lost to her teachings. He turned around to return to his uncle while he tried to stabilize his breathing. Zhao stood up and launched a fire kick to the prince´s unprotected back. He may have reached his target if it wasn´t for a delicate hand with an iron grip stopping his feet by the ankle. Before he could process how General Balkran was able to cover that distance so fast, he was launched ten feet in the air and landed next to Zuko and Iroh who looked at him in pity.

"So that is how the great commander Zhao acts in defeat? Shameful. Even in exile my nephew is more honorable than you." Iroh looked back at Crystal and nodded, giving her a silent thank.

She approached the downed Zhao and put a foot over his privates, making him whimper in agony but not daring to say anything. Crystal remained unfaced by the fact that she was stomping a man and smiled at Zuko. "Congratulations for your victory, my dear apprentice. I feel relieved to know that you haven´t forgotten my teachings in this two years. Now… if you excuse me gentleman, I have to teach the new commander what happens when you stain the honor of an Agni Kai. Hope to see you soon. Maybe the destiny will make us meet again during the search of the Avatar."

Zuko and Iroh looked at each other and gulped when she applied more pressure over Zhao´s privates and decided to leave quickly. The downed commander started to sweat like a pig when he saw the eyes of the General turn from emerald green to crimson red accompanied by a sadistic smile and sharp fangs.

"Okay… let's have a little review about the rules of the Agni Kai. Do you agree my little bitch?"

Outside the arena, Zuko breathed out in relief. He knew too well what kind of punishment she could come up with and he had to admit that, even if he hated Zhao, he pitied the man for what he was going to go through. He decided to forget about it and focus on his mission. Capturing the Avatar before Zhao or, Agni forbid it, his master.


	4. Chapter 3

**Askaroth here, here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy it.**

 **Disclaimer: Avatar doesn´t belong to me.**

 **Lets see what Crystal will do now.**

Snake of the Fire

Chapter 3

Crisis took some days to demonstrate Zhao how to show proper respect by tortu- teaching him some lessons about Agni Kai. After pummeling the commander to the ground time after time in brutal spars, she grew bored of bulling the man and shifted her attention to the soldiers in the harbor. After three days of giving them the 24 hours of agonizing training and putting half of them in bed to recover, she decided to leave and went back to her ship.

Her private vessel was a modified empire class battleship with the hull painted in black and a golden snake painted in each side that reached to the bow and raised into two figureheads with open mouths capable of spitting fire. Its size was even bigger than the admiral battleship by several dozens of meters or the royal barge. A normal battleship would be a third of its size by comparison. On the borders of the deck it was full of metal ballista capable of breaching the hull of any ship like if it was made of parchment. The tips of the projectiles could leak a special oil that will burn on impact and burn the ships from the inside. The catapults where modified to be giant ballista and throw a monstrous spiked metal sphere that could sunk a wood vessel in only one shot. It was the only super battleship in the entire Navy that the engineer could create before being send by the White Flame to attend a new project. That was ten years ago and only she had the authority to command such monstrosity. Thousands of men drowned in the sea before the mighty Black Fang. It even had small cruisers inside to disembark in case the docks where not deep enough for it.

Aboard her dear ship, the most feared general in the four nations was relaxing on a bed that was in the middle of the deck to absorb a little of sunlight. Her guards knew perfectly that they couldn´t bother her. In case of an emergency, like being surrounded by earth kingdom ships, they will have to take care of the situation a fast as possible and efficiently without scratching the paint of the hull. If there was any kind of damage, it was imperative to fix it immediately. It was well known that the most dangerous and unstable position in the Black Fang was master carpenter.

After days of random navigation, Crystal was training along one of her elite guards. Her name was Rin and she was a teenager two year older than Zuko, a couple of centimeters shorter, black short hair, amber cold eyes and a small straight scar over her left eye and cheek. She was a master in the use of a spear and a shield, always serious and distrustful of her superiors. Rin was considerate a warrior prodigy in the academy and drew the attention of the White Flame when she showed that she could infuse her weapons in electricity. Although she couldn´t throw lighting like the royal family, in Crystal´s eyes it was a special ability and she deserved her time to train and become part of her elite team a year ago. She was wearing a light leather breastplate, bandages to cover her breasts, combat pants and was barefooted.

Besides her training gear, she had a simple metal spear and a plain shield of the same material. The attacks of the young prodigy where precise and efficient near the perfection point. Each one of her thrusts and swipes where taken with the next three in consideration and done with the minimum movement required. Her defense was elegant and knew when to dodge and when to parry. Crystal moved with a speed superior to that of a human and she punched with even more strength. The shield could not withstand more than three directs hits, so she used each time she dodged to hit her master with the electrified spear. Crystal could evade with even more agility and attacked her without the need of a weapon.

After two hours of combat, Crystal decided that it was enough and stopped the electrified spear with her bare hand. The electricity traveled through her arm, creating third degree burns in her skin. The smell of burned skin made Rin try to back away and close her mouth. Crystal ignored her charred arm and took her spear with a swift pull and, using her other arm she sunk her elbow in her gut. Rin lost the ability to breath for some seconds and fell on her butt, trying to regain air.

"You continue to get better and better beyond my expectations." Praised Crystal while looking at her burned arm. Rin kept looking at her with fascination at how the charred skin regenerated as if time itself was turning back just for her. Even after two years of being witness to such ability, she couldn´t avoid being amazed behind her stoic mask.

Rin managed to raise up and bow her head making the traditional sign with her fists that symbolized the end of a duel. "Being complacent of one self is the safe path to defeat. You taught me that we can always improve, and I will not disappoint." Although she always looked cold and ruthless to the rest of the world, with Crystal it was different. General Balkran was a goddess and a mother which she desired to please at all cost, most of the time. She trusted her with her life and was sure she would never abandon her like her biological and adoptive parents.

"No. I know you would not. Because the only way that can happen is if you stop being loyal to me." She comforted her by caressing her head and hugging her like a loving mother. Rin remained still but relaxed. This was the only human contact that hadn´t been hostile in her life. And she appreciated every second of it. After some minutes, Crystal snapped her fingers and two imperial fire bending guards using red helmets with three pronged horns and three eyes appeared on deck. "Tell the captain to set course to the closest island. I want to stretch and not damage the ship in the process." The guards nodded and ran to give the order.

"General, you do know that the closest island is Kyoshi right?" Asked Rin with monotone but respectful voice.

"Yeah and I don´t care. They told me thirty years ago that they will remain neutral, so I decided to leave them alone as long as they treat me as royalty when I visited. I hope they haven´t forgotten that deal." She sounded a little bit exited about disembarking there. Why? Rin had no idea.

"I will make sure that nothing troubles you." Declared Rin, resolved to eliminate an obstacle or person that dared to negate the wishes of her General.

"Don´t worry dear. It will be funnier that way."

At dusk, Crystal was aboard a small cruiser to land ashore due to the size of the Black Fang. Again, she was wearing the black tunic with red cape, baggy pants and pointy black boots. Along with Rin, she walked through a dirt road surrounded by a small forest. Her elite guard had a dark blue shirt hidden by a metal breastplate, black pants and leather boots of the same color and short shoulder pads with snakes engraved in the metal. On her back was hanging a metal shield with a wolf symbol and a black spear.

When they reached the entrance of the small town, Crystal stopped to look how pitiful it looked. A lot of houses where damaged by fire and some of them had collapsed. There was something there that was bothering her. The peasants didn´t seem sad or angry about the state of their homes. They had a new hope and that was something that her master despised a lot.

Before they could take another step, ten figures dressed in dark green uniforms, white painted faces and sharped golden fangs jumped from the trees surrounding them. They were all ready for combat, but Crystal and Rin remained unfazed. One of the ten female warriors took a step forward and started the unavoidable interrogatory.

"Who are you people, and which are your intentions here in Kyoshi?" Demanded to know who they thought was the leader.

Rin´s grip on her spear became tighter and was about to kill those that demanded anything of her General, but the hand of her superior on her shoulder stopped her. Crystal scrutinized the Kyoshi warrior from head to toe analyzing her and felt satisfied with her posture and determination in her eyes. "Would you kindly allow me to speak with Oyaji? He can answer who I am and what I want."

The Kyoshi warrior frowned seeing how she avoided the question, but she wasn´t going to give in so easily. "How do I know that you aren´t a Fire Nation assassin that is after his life."

"I shall repeat it once more. Bring Oyaji here now or this island will end at the bottom of the sea." Threatened Crystal using her cold and an almost demonic tone accompanied with a murderous glare that made the girl step back in fear. Luckily for them, the old governor arrived with a panicked face.

"¡Suki! Tell them to put down their weapons. ¡Now!" Shouted almost hysterically the elder. The warriors looked at him with doubt and then their leader.

"But we don´t know if they are dangerous or …" Her words died in her throat when the governor interrupted her.

"¡NOW!" Ordered the old man, despair and fear clear in his eyes.

Suki nodded, and the warriors abandoned their combat postures and hanged their fans in their belts reluctantly. "Good choice. I´m happy to know that Kyoshi has not abandon their tradition to train young girls to turn them into warriors. A shame that they never joined the war. Could have turned out to be a challenge.

"General Balkran, I need to remind you that the deal still stands, but I´m afraid that you will not find the town appropriate to your likings due to… Mmmh… a recent attack." The governor seemed nervous about something and Rin seemed eager to question him. Any secrets in front of her master needed to be confessed.

"Wait… what deal are you talking about? I don´t remember that we made a deal with anyone." Objected Suki. All the situation was suspicious to her and she was going to find out who were the two foreign women and why they knew the old geezer.

Crystal cleared her throat and started to talk in an overdramatic voice "Ahh, right. This young warrior wasn´t born yet. Let me introduce myself. I´m Crystal Balkran, Supreme General of the Fire Nation army, also know as the White Flame." She gave them a little mocking bow and a smile that defied Suki to do something about it.

All the Kyoshi warriors eye almost bulge out of their sockets after hearing the revelation. They may have been isolated from the world, but even them have heard about the legends of the White Flame. Before they could even think on attacking, Oyaji took Suki by the shoulders and looked at her right in the eyes. "Listen to me. You can´t… I repeat… you can´t under any circumstance attack or disrespect her. Her battleship must be waiting nearby and if we do something to her the entire island will suffer. Besides… you may not believe me, but she alone is enough to kill us all."

The young warrior had never seen the governor talk so seriousness and fear in all her life. The fact that more Fire Nation ships were waiting for the order of that witch was motive enough to desist any attempt against her. With extreme difficulty and disgust she bowed before her "guest" and presented herself. "My name is Suki, leader of the Kyoshi warriors and protector of this island. I welcome you General Balkran and…" She didn´t know the name the other woman so she gave her the chance to talk.

"Rin" Answered her in a dry tone.

"…Rin." Finished Suki, feeling a bitter taste in her mouth for what she had just done.

"I'm curious now. You say you were attacked recently. I would like to know who did it because I never gave the order and this was clearly done by fire benders." She demanded an explanation. If there was something she didn´t tolerated disobedience and if it was one of her raiders, then she would punish them soundly.

"Well… we suffered an attack by some fire benders mounted on Komodo Rhinos two days ago." Oyaji tried to satisfy her curiosity without mentioning that the Avatar was involved.

"Do you have any idea why they attacked or how they looked?" Her first guess would have been Colonel Mongke and his elite team. The problem with that idea was that she didn´t remember him reporting anyone that he would abandon the continent to raid islands.

"I only managed to see the face of one of them." Contributed Suki. " He was young, a teenager like me. He had a big scar on his left eye and the hair tied in a ponytail."

The eyes of the General opened wide in surprise. "¡Zuko!" Said Crystal in understanding. "Hmm, It seemes my apprentice decided to visit your town. A pity that you were hosting the Avatar too. After all… he wouldn´t have come here otherwise.

Oyaji started to shiver after hearing that she knew they helped the Avatar. The punishments that this woman could give where always attached to her infamous legend.

"General, should we punish them for offering asylum to an enemy of the Fire Nation?" Asked Rin without a trace of emotion. They Kyoshi warriors tensed and readied themselves to fight to the dead but Crystal negated with the head.

"Not needed. The damage done by my apprentice looks enough to me. If we are going to punish someone, it would be for being bad hosts. You offered food and shelter to the Avatar. You will do the same to me." Declared the White Flame with absolute authority. Suki gritted her teeth with fury but remained silent.

"O-of c-course. F-follow me and we will give you a feast." Stuttered Oyaji at the beginning. Crystal and Rin followed him while Suki was walking next to the elder.

"Oyaji, can you explain me what is this deal about? The one you mentioned earlier." Demanded to know her in a hushed tone.

"It was thirty years ago. We were visited by that same woman. She came here with the intention to conquer us, but we told her that we didn´t want to be part of the war, that we wanted to stay neutral. In the end, the island didn´t have anything of interest for her so she gave us the option to… well… treat her like royalty and obey her demands. She hadn´t come in thirteen years, that´s the reason why you don´t know her. You were too young." Confessed the governor.

"She doesn´t look more than twenty-seven. Are you sure that´s not her daughter?" Questioned Suki.

"There is the problem. She is… immortal." Admitted the elder with utter defeat and despair in his voice. "I have seen her with my own eyes all those years ago and she hasn´t change in the slightest. She told us herself after cutting her hand, showing us how she was able to regenerate in a cloud of ashes. Agains her there is nothing we can do." Oyaji put emphasis in the "we" hopping she understood the hidden message. Suki remained silent and kept walking, a troubled look in her eyes. She couldn´t believe it. That monster with human skin was in charge of the war against the world and she was unable to do something without condemning her people to death. She felt powerless and terrified. The despair she was feeling was threatening to drown her. Until she remembered the Avatar and Sokka. The memory comforter her and steeled her determination to endure whatever that witch decided to throw at her.

Oyaji offered Crystal his own house to please her. She wasn´t expecting anything less. Still it was disappointing. Her quarters in the Black Fang were bigger than the entire house. The food, on the other hand, was a nice change for her. These peasants cooked better than her chefs in the battleship. But she knew this was just a fluke. She could count with her fingers how many times that had happened.

The night was more quiet and relaxing that she would have thought possible. Without the noise of the engines or the movement of the ship, she managed to sleep deeply and unconcerned. Rin slept in the room next to her, listening to any noise or suspicious movement that could disturb her General.

After a nice feast and a night of good sleep, Crystal woke up with the intention of doing something she was wanting to do for a long time. Rin escorted her outside and glared at anyone that dared to look their way in a funny way. When she found Oyaji taking to Suki, she decided to ask, interrupting their conversation without shame. "Old man, do you still have that sea snake that I saw the first time I came here?"

"You mean the Unagi?" Asked Suki, annoyed for being interrupted.

"That thing. It´s alive, right?"

"Yeah, it is. Why?" Asked back the governor fearing the answer.

"Because I want it as a trophy." Crystal was smiling a bloodthirsty smile full of sharp fangs and the eyes started to show a red gleam.

Suki couldn´t believe that the Fire Nation witch was crazy enough to go fight the Unagi. She followed her to the beach and watched her undress except for some bandages covering her impressive breasts and pants that only reached her upper thighs. Her creamy and white skin was marvelous and a true sight to behold. She prayed the spirits for her to be eaten by the Unagi when she jumped in the water.

Crystal managed to climb over a giant Koi fish and mount it in circles to attract the beast. Her orange hair was wet and each drop on it shinned under the sun. After a couple of minutes, a colossal and dark grey snake emerged from the water behind her and tried to devour the fish she was mounting. Crystal made a jump capable of competing with an air bender landing on the head of the Unagi with a double drop kick, sinking the head of the creature under the water with brutal violence. She landed over the back of the snake while the head remained under the water. It only took some seconds to resurface but now it wasn´t looking for lunch, it was looking for his attacker. When it fixed the gaze upon her, it growled and launched a powerful torrent of water to her. She simply raised her right arm and created a big white fire ball that evaporated the water and created a wall of mist. The Unagi was unable to localize her due to the mist until something pushed part of its body that was over the water level. Crystal made a jump with the speed of an arrow in the direction of the creature´s head forming a white flaming sword in her hand as long as her whole body. The snake didn´t noticed her until it was too late. It felt a scorching and unbearable pain in the neck, then… nothing.

Suki fell on her knees when she saw the fire witch decapitating the Unagi with a fire sword with moves that looked like those of an air bender. The body of the great snake convulsed in agony creating waves that crashed on the rocks ashore. The head fell on the water with an expression of pain that shouldn´t be possible in an animal and no trace of blood on it. The Fire Nation woman returned to the beach, swimming on her back like nothing was wrong. Suki wanted to grab her by the neck and drown her right now. But she stopped her thoughts when Rin walked past her with a towel, daring her to even try something. The leader of the Kyoshi warriors sighted in defeat. She couldn´t do a thing but watch how the monster walked away, back to her ship.


	5. Chapter 4

**Askaroth here, here is the new chapter, it may be short but I felt right for me.**

 **Hope you enjoy. Reviw, fav and follow please.**

Chapter 4

When Crystal went back to her colossal ship, she gave the order to retrieve the Unagi´s head and embalm it. She wasn´t sure to hang it in the control room or her private chamber, but she would know it soon once she asked the crew. The second she set foot on the Black Fang´s deck, Crystal was greeted by ten imperial guards leaded by another of her elite guards. It was a middle-aged man, tall and skinny, tanned skin and brown eyes with red war paint over them like a mask, the proof that he was a Yuyan archer, the deadliest and most precise archers in the world. He was wearing a simple brown jacket, white puffy pants, black boots, a cone shaped hat and a red quiver full of arrows on his back along a dark bow with golden runes carved all over it.

"¡General Balkran! I hope you had a good night of rest in the island. Did those savages bothered you?" Asked the archer with clear discomfort in his voice for the proximity of his master with the peasants.

"Oh, Tarik… don´t worry, it wasn´t so bad. At least they knew how to cook, and I really need to take night outside the ship. Besides… you know that I am not in any danger. Or maybe you dare to question my power?" The slight disappointment in her voice made Tarik fall on his knees and bow with his head touching the ground.

"I am sorry, master. I was just worried about what those savages could do to bother you. I never doubted your power. Please forgive me." Explained the archer as fast but as clearly as possible.

Crystal looked down at him amused for his submission and crouched to put her hand on his shoulder. "It´s ok, Tarik. I know that you get worried sick about my wellbeing, but you need to remember that there is no way for those barbarians to do something that would made me uncomfortable. And if by some means it happens… in this case, with Rin was enough. Now get up and come with me to the bridge." She whispered in a kind and gentle voice yet firm. He nodded and stood up to follow her.

The command bridge was full of fire nation officers pulling levers and inspecting panels with pointers that showed the engine strength, the speed of the ship, compass and pressure of the steam pipes. In the center of the room was a darkish red silk throne that looked more like a sofa than anything else. Crystal jumped on it and laid there in an undignified pose that no one dared to question, ever.

"General, what´s our next destiny?" Asked his loyal first officer, utmost respect in his voice.

"I´m not sure. Is there any prison we haven´t visited in a long time?" She asked back in a bored tone.

"As a matter of fact, there is. North of our position we have a prison shipyard designed by you to contain earth benders. You haven´t visited it in three years." Replied her first officer, not hesitating for even a second.

Crystal remembered what he was talking about and decided to put her best White Flame mask while clearing he throat. "Yes, excellent choice captain. The warden was one of my best torturers back then. The way he does his job pleasures me greatly. I want to see eyes that lack any kind of hope, I want to see people crushed under a mountain of despair. That always reassures and makes me happy. Fix course to the shipyard. Set the engines at maximum speed."

Zuko had disembarked on the prison shipyard only for replenishment motives. He wasn´t expecting to find news about the Avatar and the two water tribes peasants that accompanied him. They had liberated all the earth benders in the prison just the day before. His curiosity took him to investigate the combat zone. At the beginning, the only thing he saw was coal and broken spears all over the place. Nothing worthy of his attention. At least until he found a piece of blue cloth that didn´t seem to belong there. He approached the object and was surprised to discover a water tribe necklace.

"Obviously property of the girl that traveled along the Avatar" said Zuko in a silent whisper. After an hour of searching for clues in the platform, he decided to abandon the investigation and went back to his ship. In the way back, he noticed that a familiar colossal ship was coming to the shipyard. Zuko gulped nervously and decided to walk faster. When he got on board, he gave the order to leave the metal dock of the shipyard immediately. The Black Fang was imposing and scary the closer it came. The prince´s ship was pathetic in comparison to the massive battleship. Three of its sharp ballista bolts could sink his ship and the deck of the White Flame had at least a hundred of them.

He watched from deck as a full squad of fire benders stood in position to receive his master. A platform descended onto the dock from the battleship and a lone figure walked down it. General´s Balkran form was unmistakable and imposing, even if Zuko was two hundred meters away and getting further by the second, her long dark orange hair made her stood up from the rest. The exiled prince knew that he didn't want to be close to the prison once his master realized that the prisoners had escaped.

Crystal walked down the platform to the shipyard docks with her arms crossed behind her back, hidden by her long red cloak. She emanated an oppressive aura of authority and might that was well know and feared by all the soldiers in the fire nation. The guards seemed more nervous than usual, but she shook it off as not being used to her presence. But the warden was shaking like a leaf and that was strange for one of her crueler subordinates. She arched an eyebrow but remained silent, for only a minute.

"Warden… it has been some time since I didn´t set foot in this magnificent prison. I´m ready to see all those earth benders… so broken and full of despair. Hehe, I also want to talk the old Tyro. I have been trying to think a way of making him feel more miserable." She announced quite cheerful. The warden was an old man with grey hair and wrinkles in his angular and hardened face. He was a veteran of war that had seen a great deal of horrifying things in the battlefield. Mangled and broken corpses of fellow fire benders was one of them but… even after all that, when it came to the General, he couldn´t avoid sweating and shaking in fear knowing that he was going to disappoint her. He nodded and guided her to the platform where Zuko had just been mere minutes before along some soldiers.

The picture that Crystal found in that desolated platform wasn´t what she was expecting at all. She watched around slowly waiting for a prisoner to appear on her line of sight. But there was not even a soul there for her amusement, only a bunch of coal and broken spears.

The General turned around and stood face to face with the warden, her hair shadowing her eyes, giving her an even more scary look. "Warden… where are my prisoners?" Asked Crisis in a low and demonic, voice making the temperature of the platform drop drastically. Some of the guard started to shiver from the cold. The old warden dropped on his knees and began to beg and cry for mercy while apologizing multiple times. The monster ignored his pleas and raised the man in the air by his neck with only one arm.

"I asked…" She started to say while watching him with piercing red eyes that belonged to a creature that lurked in the shadows of the abyss itself. Something that had no problems to rip off a man in two and feast on its flesh or drove them to madness just for the fun of it. A being capable of unspeakable evil and breathtaking destruction. And that right now… was pissed off with someone. The warden. "…Where are my prisoners?" She gripped his neck more tightly, forbidding him to breathe. When he didn´t answer she threw him against the iron wall that separated the shipyard from the prison and dented it. " **¡I want an answer now!** " Roared Crisis to the sky releasing a massive white fire torrent from her mouth.

Everyone in the entire shipyard felt a titanic weigh crashing down on their shoulders, making them fall on their knees and breathe hard. Crystal was now just a spectator in her own mind but she wasn´t going to let Crisis go on a rampage just for that. " _Wait, take it easy there. There is no reason to be more violent than necessary. Let´s hear the report first."_ Her voice soothed her other half before she killed everyone around her.

"General…" One of the soldier tried to talk to her. She fixed her gaze on the poor idiot that dared to talk and almost gave him a heart attack because of her piercing glare.

"Speak" Ordered Crisis in a low and threatening tone.

"The prisoners escaped thanks to the Avatar´s help and a water tribe girl that inspired the earth benders to fight back." Squealed the man in a high pitch voice, feeling an oppressive pressure all around him.

"All of you, bring me the written report to my ship **¡NOW!** " Crisis barked the order and the soldiers ran for their life, literally. Once they where out of sigh, she walked to the pitiful unconscious form of the warden and dragged him by the leg all over the sharp pieces of coal she could find on the platform. The man opened his eyes half way of wherever she was dragging him and wished immediately to return to the bliss land of unconsciousness. His back was hurting like hell and he could even feel some shards of coal piercing his skin and being buried deeper the more he was dragged along the platform.

"Two years. I take a license from my job for two years as Supreme General to take a well-deserved kind of vacation and this is what I find. My subordinates also have relaxed, and they believe themselves invincible." She sounded outraged and make him feel her disappointment by twisting his leg and breaking his bones like a feeble twig. "Now you remember why they call me the bone bender. Hahaha scream all you want is music to my ears. Where was I…? Oh, right. Are any of you, pathetic human scum immortals like me? ¡NO! Do any of you have the power to blow up a mountain? ¡NO! The fire nation is strong thanks to ME. You don't have the right to feel superior if you don´t remember that is MY power that put all of you at the top of the world." Ranted Crisis like a madwoman while a fire twister surrounded her legs, turning them into a thick and long snake body with red scales and black spots. Her tail coiled around his good leg and raised him hanging downward with ease until his eyes where at the same level than hers.

She brought him near until his ear was next to her lips. "I´m going to confess you something." She said slowly while grabbing his face with her hand. "My fire is more special than you think. Not only turns to ashes anything it touches but it can also devour the soul of living things if I wish it. Must say some souls are really tasty, let's see how yours will fill my stomach." She threw him to the grid that delimited the end of the prison with astounding force, breaking more bones in the process. The warden was in so much pain that he couldn´t even scream, only weep and try to breath. Drool, tears and snot fell from his face in small but constant gross amounts.

Crisis gathered her hands like she was holding a ball. In just five seconds, a white flame appeared between them but this one was different. This fire ball had a dark core and the warden could feel like a pull from it like he was going to be swallowed by an absolute and unescapable darkness.

"You should feel honored. Serving as a subordinate and now as food. Now take this… this is what happens to those that disappoint me. ¡Enjoy this one trip into my bottomless stomach you lowly scum!" Her evil grin was a clear giveaway that she was enjoying this a lot. Once the flames reached him his soul would be bounded to her and be absorbed. She threw the fire sphere to him with all her might and… the second it abandoned her hand, the white ball doubled in size for each meter it traveled.

The moment it reached the warden, it was the size of a Komodo Rhino and engulfed him completely. It didn´t stop there. The fire disintegrated the grid and the metal platform with no resistance, creating a circular hole in it, it traveled a hundred meters more just to exploded in a white and blinding light in the shape of a massive column covered in black lighting sparking all around it and disturbing the calm surface of the sea like a thunderstorm.

She then opened her mouth and closed her eyes. For a simple human, it would have seemed like she was taking deep breaths of air. But for her… she was absorbing the soul of the poor bastard into her. Half a minute later, she opened her eyes again, but they were no longer red, but green. "Yuck, it tastes like coal. Ironic."

" _It seems the humans are truly forgetful creatures."_ Said Crisis, now more level headed and satisfied. " _We need to remember them to those barbarian, lovers of the mud, the true meaning of despair. A pity that our master forbade us from attacking the capitals of the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe. We could have finish this job like half a century ago. But it doesn´t mean our subordinates can´t…_ "

That made Crystal remember her past campaigns and her blood started to boil when the most recent one appeared in her mind. "Iroh… you should have surrender to your anger instead of crying for your son. This war would be already finished, and I would be in the arms of my beloved." She growled his name full of hate. It didn´t left her mind until she returned to the Black Fang. Rin and Tarik where waiting near her sofa in the command bridge.

She fell face first into the soft texture of silk of her throne. Not even bothering to sit properly and gave orders to her elite guards. "It´s time to return to action. Rin, I need you to go to the northern air temple and demand the blueprints for the project to the mechanist. Tarik, you will lead the invasion troops to Omashu. I don´t want more delays and excuses. I want this war ended by the end of autumn. And Rin… if you see a new design that seems interesting enough bring it to me."

"Yes, General." Said both of them at the same time.

"Fix course to the north. I heard that the Avatar is going in that direction and I want to thank him personally for releasing my prisoners." Barked Crystal from her undignified pose in the sofa with her tail coiling around it. All the soldiers feel pity for the poor air bender. Even if he was a sworn enemy of their nation, they didn´t wish to any living soul to become the General´s play toy. It was the worst fate that they could think of.


	6. Chapter 5

**Askaroth here again, remember I only own the Oc.**

 **Hope you are enjoying the story. Don´t forget to fav follow and leave a comment.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

Chapter 5

Zuko was peering through his telescope in hopes of finding his prey in the sky. If the villagers had spoken the truth, then the Avatar was heading to Fire Nation territory and he will follow him.

But his uncle was clearly against his decision. "Of all the stupid things you have done in your sixteen years, this is absolutely the worst." Ranted Iroh in an uncharacteristic angry manner for him. "What if they capture you? I will not be able to help." He softened his tone and looked at his nephew in worry.

"I don´t have a choice, uncle." Retorted Zuko sternly.

"Have you forgotten that the Fire Lord banished you?" Iroh´s face was now plagued with more anguish and sorrow.

"I´m going after the Avatar, my father will understand why I return home." This time Zuko left the telescope and turned around to answer.

The old general shook his head in negative after hearing the naivety of his nephew. "You are giving too much credit to my brother. He is not the understanding type. And your master also falls in that category. If a soldier disobeys her, his life is forfeit. Don´t throw away your life, Zuko."

Zuko ignored his uncle´s words and went back to the telescope. A few minutes later he found what he was looking for. "Hellsman, full steam ahead." Ordered the prince.

* * *

Up in the skies, the Avatar and the two water tribe siblings realized that they were being followed. "¡Aang, we have trouble!" Warned Katara. She had tanned skin, dark brown hair with two loops tied next to her ears, a braid that reached to her upper back, sapphire blue eyes and a long light blue dress from the southern water tribe.

"It´s true, and it´s coming really fast." Said Sokka in a panicked voice. He was Katara´s older brother by two years. He was tall but a bit slender and scrawny, same skin color as his sister, deep blue eyes, shaved head at the sides and the top of his hair tied in a wolf tail. He was wearing a dark blue short sleeved jacket, black pants and brown boots.

"¡Fire ball!" Screamed Katara.

Aang was a twelve-year-old kid with grey eyes, bald with a blue arrow tattoo on his head, yellow and oranges robes of an air nomad monk and a wooden staff hanging on his back. "Hang on" Ordered the young Avatar while he pulled the reins of Appa, his giant white flying bison with six legs, dodging the scorching projectile. Momo, his flying lemur was so scared that it grasped his leg like it´s life depended on it.

"We need to lose Zuko before he shoots us down." Said Katara in a similar panicked voice as her brother.

"Can you made Appa go faster?" Pressed Sokka.

"Yes, but we have a new problem" Answered back the young monk, extreme worry plastered on his face.

* * *

"A blockade?" Questioned Zuko when he noticed a double row of Fire Nation battleships in the horizon defining the end of Earth Kingdom waters.

"If you cross that line it will be over. Turn around Zuko, please." Pleaded his Uncle.

Zuko gritted his teeth while whispering "I´m sorry Uncle I don´t have a choice." Then he gave the order "¡To the blockade!"

* * *

"If we continue to the north we will have to pass the Fire Nation ships and dodge the blockade. There is no other option." Explained Aang, fear evident in his voice, not for himself but for his friends.

"There is no time left." Replied Katara.

"That´s why I didn´t want you two to come. It's too dangerous." Complained the young Avatar.

Katara and Sokka looked at each other and then back to Aang, a smile of trust and a look of determination in their eyes now. "And that is why we are here."

"Let´s break the blockade." Encouraged Sokka.

"Appa, Yip Yip." Aang smiled back and was now filled of courage and resolve. He waved the reins and the flying bison speeded up.

* * *

Meanwhile, in one of the battleships of the blockade, commander Zhao was watching the situation with a telescope in the deck. "The Avatar and the exiled prince. Today is my lucky day"

"Commander Zhao, another ship approaches from the south." Reported one of the soldiers behind him.

Zhao arched a brow, but he decided to see if he could identify the ship. But It was so easy to do it that it scared him to no end. "The Black Fang" Gasped in fear the commander. The soldiers tensed when they heard their superior mention that ships name.

"Commander, what are your orders?" Asked the same soldier.

"Shoot the bison down." He ordered after regaining his usual arrogant tone.

"But sir… there is a fellow ship there. It's dangerous."

"I don´t care. Besides, it belongs to a traitor. Unless the Black Fang comes closer to it don´t stop shooting. If even one tiny projectile falls upon that ship, we are dead." Explained Zhao with a stoic face but in the inside, he was scared shitless of the possibility of pissing off General Balkran again.

* * *

Crystal was watching everything with a red and golden spyglass while standing over the head of one of the two golden snakes of her ship. She frowned when a fire ball crashed onto Zuko´s ship and started a small fire along a great amount of black smoke. Now his engines were busted at least by fifty percent, but the prince seemed to ignore it and kept pushing to chase after the Avatar who was dodging scorching projectiles in the sky with great agility and reflexes.

The more her ship approached Zuko´s, the less projectiles where fired by the blockade in their direction. The prince didn´t understand why they were stopping until he turned around and found the colossal ship of his master just a dozen of meter to his left.

Crystal was amused by her pupil´s face of shock when he turned around. She then used her fancy spyglass to watch the flying bison only to see a kid falling from the sky and the animal racing to catch him. "¡Razzor!" The General called the name of her third elite guard. A man even taller than her appeared on the deck in less than ten seconds. He was bald with a padlock bear, muscular with a simple red sleeveless jacket, an arm and a leg made of metal with spikes on the knee and elbow, a pointy brown boot, leather pants and a red eye tattoo in the middle of his forehead.

"Blow them to smithereens." She ordered with a cold and ruthless voice.

The mountain of a man nodded without speaking a word and climbed to the head of the other golden snake next to the general. He aimed with utter mastery the trajectory of the white bison and concentrated chi in his forehead. A second later he launched a distorted but invisible sphere of air at high speed.

* * *

Appa was flying just a few meters over the water and dodging a rain of fire projectiles. They were just a hundred meters from crossing the blockade when a catapult launched another projectile in a straight line to them. Aang´s gaze became cold steel and pulled the reins of Appa at last second like a professional rider. The bison dodged the scorching rock and, two second later, it exploded into oblivion creating a shockwave that almost threw them to the ocean if not for the saddle.

"What the hell was that?" Asked a freaked out Sokka.

"Don´t know. Want to stop and ask them?" Replied Katara grapping the saddle in a vice like grip. They managed to cross the blockade and leave behind they pursuers.

"¡We did it!" Cheered Aang, raising his fist in the air.

"We entered the Fire Nation… wow." Katara and Sokka seemed to be shocked to understand what had just happened. It was surreal. Katara turned around to give the blockade a last look and what she saw filled her with terror. A giant black battleship with the head of two enormous snakes with open maws as figureheads was besides Zuko´s ship. The worst thing was the sense of dread and darkness it gave off. If that thing was after them… she didn´t want to even think about it.

* * *

"Where do you think they are heading, sir?" Asked a soldier behind Zhao.

"I don´t know. But I'm sure the prince does." He saw that the Black Fang was next to Zuko´s vessel so he gave the order to let them pass. "Don´t even think of arresting them." He warned the men in the deck. "If the White Flame hasn´t done a thing to stop him then we cannot interfere. But we are going to follow them"

* * *

An hour later, Zuko was walking around the deck, stressed and nervous. His ship was still leaving a trail of smoke and Zhao was following him just a couple of hundred meters behind. "What are they up to, Uncle? Why they didn´t arrest me?"

"Because they want to follow you to the price that you three are searching. But Zhao seems more scared to incur in your master´s wrath than anything else." Answered his uncle as he approached him.

"Well, if they want to follow my trail of smoke then I will give them that." He gave the order to prepare the small vessel that they used to sail through rivers and use the cover of the smoke to cover his trail. When he separated from his ship he set course to Crescent Moon island. He was alone and could relax a little bit now until he reached land, but he noticed movement from the corner of his eyes and jumped back ready to set the intruder in fire. The second he saw the dark orange hair he froze up. The deep emerald eyes of his master where capable of inflicting a fear so great onto her enemies that some had killed themselves just to escape her terrible gaze. But now that they were directed at him they were only filled with amusement and glee.

"You have become quite bold, Zu-zu." Reproached her master with a smirk on her face. Zuko groaned in displeasure after hearing the nickname but didn´t say a word. "Do you know that the only reason Zhao hasn´t arrested you is because of me, right?"

The prince nodded slowly because he didn´t trusted his voice in that moment.

"I´m curious to know where we are going. It was interesting to watch you run after the Avatar back there and I must commend him and his bison from avoiding all those ships with their projectiles and even my subordinate long-range destruction technique." She commented like it wasn´t a big deal but Zuko knew better, for her to even talk about them it really was an honor and worthy of mention.

"To the fire temple." He confessed and sighted in resignation for losing the Avatar to her master.

Her eyes opened like saucers and her pupils became slits like a snake, her teeth became long and sharp fangs and the color of her eyes turned a dangerous and bloody red. It was an image that creeped him out and send cold shivers down his spine.

"This is going to be interesting. Let´s make a deal. I´m going to give you ten minutes of advantage. If you fail the Avatar is mine. Deal?"

She extended her hand to him and Zuko took it, not hesitating a second. "Deal."

* * *

Inside the island´s temple, the Avatar group was following a Fire Sage called Shyu that hadn´t been swayed to the Fire Lord´s side and his warmonger ideals. He guided them to the entrance of Avatar Roku´s sanctuary through a series of secrets passages unknow to the other sages. The entrance was a massive iron door ornamented by five metal snakes with their maws open and a golden fire symbol over them. The hall in which they stood was filled by several stone columns with snakes chiseled from the stone. Shyu told them that to open the door, they would need five fire benders to launch a fire ball simultaneously to the snake's maws. Sokka tried to replicate the same effect with animal's skin bags full of lamp oil. The explosion that followed next wasn´t enough to open it but it filled the maws with soot. It was then when Katara had an idea.

"Faster, the Avatar is inside the sanctuary." Hurried Shyu to his fellow sages.

"How did he enter?" Asked the eldest of the sages in a sceptic tone.

"I don´t know. But look at the marks." Shyu showed the sages the soot in a snake maw to convince them. Under the door, a shadow could be seen moving. It was enough to persuade the sages.

"He is inside! Open the doors immediately." Ordered the eldest sage. "We cannot allow him to talk with Avatar Roku." While the sages went into position to fire bend, Aang prepared himself to run for it once the door opened. The five sages launched a powerful fire ball into the iron maws and an earsplitting screech came from the massive door as the snakes whirled over themselves and unlocked the entrance. The doors opened only to show Momo licking his foot.

"The Avatar´s pet. Must have used the pipes. We have been deceived." Momo jumped to the sage face taking him by surprise while Sokka and Katara immobilized the other two and Shyu took care of the last one as he gave the signal. "¡Aang, now!"

Sokka, Katara and Shyu watched in horror and shock as Zuko came from behind the column holding Aang hostage. "The Avatar will come with me." Those few confusing seconds was enough advantage for the sages to turn the tides and immobilize the water tribe siblings and the traitor chaining them to the columns. Momo managed to escape through the window not without stealing the sages hat first. "Close the doors" Ordered Zuko while pushing Aang to the stairs in hopes of leaving the sanctuary as fast as possible.

But the young monk wasn´t going to surrender so easily. He scurried from his captor´s grasp and kicked him down the stairs. Then he ran and jumped with extreme agility dodging streams and whips of fire through the hall. When he saw his friends chained, a trace of doubt invaded him, but it lasted only a second after meeting Katara´s gaze which told him to enter the sanctuary. Three acrobatics jumps over the sage heads later he was inside the sanctuary and the doors closed behind him. It was a round and spacious hall with a calendar painted in the floor and a golden statue of Roku, hundreds of flames behind him made in gold. Over the entrance, in the opposite side was a giant ruby reflecting the light announcing the winter solstice once the red light touched Roku´s forehead. Something that was happening right now.

"Why is nothing happening?" Questioned Aang, a sinking feeling in his chest that became deeper for every second in silence. He could hear Zuko and the Sages trying to force the door open but it didn´t seem to work.

"I don´t have a clue of what I´m doing. I only can control the air. Please Roku, talk to me." Another heartbreaking seconds passed in silence but then the statue´s eye started to glow. The hall disappeared in a wave of fog. Once it calmed down, the previous Avatar was awaiting Aang a warm smile on his face.

* * *

Outside the sanctuary, Zuko and the sages where questioning Shyu who was on his knees and surrounded. "Why did you help the Avatar?" Demanded the prince, anger evident in his voice.

"Because it was the duty of the Fire Sages to do it. It still is." Replied Shyu full of pride.

After those words, the sound of clapping could be heard and several footsteps approaching. When the group turned around they paled except for Zuko. Crystal Balkran was leading a group of fire benders along with commander Zhao. "Bravo, bravo." Congratulated the White Flame showing a malicious grin that scared most of the presents that knew her. "A wonderful and moving speech. I would feel honored to hear it later in my ship if you don´t mind. Don´t you all agree?" The sages felt a disturbing sense of dread and an extreme cold shiver running down their spines after hearing her question.

Zhao ignored her conversation and stood in front of Zuko trying to intimidate him. "Your little smoke screen was a poor attempt to deceive me. Now I can present two traitors to the Fire Lord. He will be most pleased."

"Zhao." Called Crystal interrupting his rant. "I told you that under any circumstances you could touch him. Unless the Fire Lord is present, I have the maximum authority. If I decide that the exiled Prince can be here under my gaze, then you are going to sit like a good dog and stop barking. Now… where is the Avatar?" She asked giving a quick look around and only finding the two water peasants chained to the column.

"Inside the sanctuary. There is no way to enter." Answered Zuko.

"It doesn´t matter. He will have to get out sooner or later." Zhao felt confident that he will be able to capture the kid with no problem.

Crystal instead approached the chained girl looking her from head to toe. The boy scowled at her but remained in silence. "Sorry if I haven´t introduced myself. I don´t usually bother with common folk but you two travel with the Avatar so… I´m Crystal Balkran, Supreme General of the Fire Nation armies, but everyone knows me as the White Flame."

Sokka and Katara looked at her in pure disbelief and shock as if she was crazy. The water tribe boy seemed more sceptic than her sister. "Wait, the White Flame is only a scary legend from the Fire Nation. There is no possible way for a person to live for a hundred years and look like that. Is scientifically impossible."

"Well… Aang technically is one hundred and twelve years old." Said Katara with an all-knowing tone.

"Thanks for destroying my argument, sis." Thanked Sokka in a dry sarcastic voice.

"Any time." Replied her with an innocent smile. Crystal only watched in silence a deadpan look on her face.

"Whatever. Unless you have been frozen for a hundred years then there is no way for you to be THAT White Flame." Declared Sokka, a smug look on his face certain of his victory.

Crystal wasn´t amused. She was really tired of people doubting her claim as the envoy of Agni and her power. Even if it was fake, all the Fire Nation believed it was true and the rest of the world should at least know of the power she wield on the battlefield. Now these two kids were denying it in her face. Crisis was going to enjoy playing with them. "Many have said the same… before I burned them to ashes." Her voice turned more dark and cold. The sibling's pupils shrank in fear as an oppressive aura started to surround them like water, as if they were falling deep into the ocean. A massive weight over their bodies started to suffocate them. "I´m going to be sincere. I met the Fire Lord Sozin. Or crashed into his backyard. I killed that idiot of Roku personally to make this war possible. I have a mission given to me by Agni himself to put the Fire Lord as the supreme ruler of the world and I have commanded his armies since the beginning. If you need proof, then let me show you." Her oppressive aura retreated and the two siblings where able to breath normally. But they where still scared of her.

Crystal retreated a couple of steps and waited. Zuko wasn´t really affected by the revelation. He already knew because she had told him personally of her past deeds. Zhao and the sages where truly surprised that she was the one that killed the previous Avatar. But Shyu was enraged. His great grandfather had served Roku and taught him to master fire bending. His loyalty was with the Avatar and his reincarnation. Furious after realizing what kind of monster that was in front of him he decided to act. He jumped on his feet and launched a concentrated fire torrent that find its mark in all her face. The skin melted in a creepy and horrifying sight. The smell of burned skin made the water sibling turn green and sick. Almost making them puke. Zuko reacted first and punched the sage in the face hard for attacking his master and the soldiers immobilized him as he tried to stand up after the prince´s blow.

Zhao was ready to set the man on fire when he heard a sinister laugh coming from the General who still remained standing and unmoving. The burned skin and hair turned into ashes and went back to her regenerating the damage like nothing happened to her. "Oh, you are Kaja´s great grandson. He was also enraged when I told him personally, but he died of sorrow and sadness before he could even challenge me into an Agni Kai. It was pathetic." She laughed as she mocked the man´s ancestor which only angered Shyu more but couldn´t do a thing due to being restrained. "When the doors open release all your power. Zuko, stand aside. This is personal. If he survives then he is all yours."

"She is a soulless witch." Said Katara in growl like whisper.

"Yeah, no doubt about that. A soulless regenerative witch. How is Aang going to escape this one?" Whispered back Sokka still not believing his eyes about what he just saw.

"Better question is how both of you are going to survive this place" Interrupted Crystal from behind the column they where chained to, startling them. "You… little girl. You and I are going to have a long talk later about what you did with my prisoner in the shipyard." She said slowly next to Katara´s ear in a disturbing cheerful voice.

* * *

Inside the sanctuary, Aang was having a conversation with Roku.

"So, this is about my vision? The one about the comet and the snake?" Aang was confused and quite lost. Figuring out dreams wasn´t his call.

"One hundred and twelve years ago I was attacked and killed by a red scaled snake covered in white flames. It used my age and fatigue against me to end my life. Twelve years of political manipulation and plotting later, Sozin, allied with the snake launched a massive attack empowered by the comet that utterly destroyed the air nomads. That´s how the war started, taking advantage of the power of the comet."

"The comet gives them more power? And what do you mean that Sozin allied himself with a snake? How does that work?" The young monk had a lot of question but very little time to have them all answered.

"Yes. The snake I´m talking about is no other than the White Flame. The greatest calamity our world has ever faced and the one responsible of this war."

"But that happened a hundred years ago. Why is it relevant now? The snake should already be dead." Aang still didn´t understand what Roku was trying to say completely.

"Listen well, Aang. You need to stay away from the White Flame. You are not ready to face her. And she isn´t dead. She is immortal. Incapable of aging. And about the comet… it will return at the end of the summer and the Fire Lord will use it to end the war. If he is successful, not even the Avatar will be able to restore the balance. Aang… you need to find a way to defeat the White Flame and the Fire Lord before the comet returns."

The young Avatar started to feel the weight of the responsibility and the immense task he had ahead. And he was beginning to feel overwhelmed. "But I haven´t even started to master the water. And I got nothing on the fire and earth."

"The mastery of the elements takes years of practice and discipline. But if you are going to save the world you will need to learn before the end of the summer." Roku´s speech was starting to depress him more and more.

"What will happen if I don´t manage to master the elements? What if I fail?" All the new information was suffocating him.

"You can do it Aang. Because you have done it before. The solstice ends. We need to separate… for now." Said Roku in a soothing and calming voice.

"But I will not be able of returning here. What if I have more questions? How will be able to talk to you?" Asked the young Avatar in panic.

"I am with you. When you need to speak to me you will find a way." The words of the previous Avatar managed to calm the monk. "A terrible danger waits for you outside the sanctuary. I can help you but only if you are ready" The spirit showed him the group of fire benders ready to attack the moment the doors opened. Behind them there was a woman with dark orange hair tied in a ponytail and a black and red aura in the form of a snake surrounding her.

Aang´s face relaxed and his blue arrow started to glow along with his eyes. "I´m ready."

* * *

Crisis watched the doors open, full of bloodlust and a face splitting sadistic grin. A white blinding light appeared from inside the sanctuary but she didn´t look to the side. Her pupils burned against the light, but they regenerated quickly. The rest of the soldiers and Zhao launched a wave of fire once the light vanished. They didn´t expected to see Avatar Roku manipulating the flames they created in a marvelous and impressive demonstration of fire bending. Roku concentrated all the flames in a ball and then expanded it in a circular loop in a wave like manner and knocked back they soldiers and melted the chains of the water tribe siblings without harming them. Zuko took the opportunity and escaped, followed closely by Zhao and his men.

But Crisis ran directly at him, white flames covering her fists. "¡I told you to stay dead, ROKU!"

The spirit of the past Avatar only raised his hand in her direction like he was trying to lift something. Before she reached him, a lava geyser from the foundations of the temple broke through the floor and intercepted her taking her down several levels. Multiple tremors shook the structure of the temple collapsing part of the wall and roof. Roku then took a long breath and disappeared in a cloud of smoke leaving a tired Aang in the spot he was standing. Both siblings ran to help him and act as support.

"Thanks. Where is Shyu?" Asked Aang exhausted.

"Don´t know." Answered Katara, a worried look on her face for the luck of the fire sage and their sakes. They ran to the hole in the wall due to the lava that was starting to overflow from the stairs. The temple was being eaten by the magma and no escape routes seemed availed for them. At least until Appa appeared guided by Momo. The three kids jumped into the saddle and flew out of there. While they were getting off the island an earthshaking explosion of white fire destroyed whatever was left of the temple and a bloodcurdling scream of hate could be heard even as far as they were. "ROKUUUUUU"

"Ok, I admit that was truly horrifying." Confessed Sokka shaking a little in fear.

"I never though it would come the day I could hate someone by just meeting them, but that woman… no, that monster, she is responsible for all this. And the worst is that she enjoys it." Katara sobbed in silence, a lot of pain and hatred stuck in her throat.

"I'm still not ready. But the moment I do… I will make sure that she pays for all the suffering she has caused." Aang´s resolve and determination to save the word became more steeled and strong than ever. He couldn´t let her win. He will not allow it. He was the world´s last hope and he was determined to not fail again.

* * *

Zhao looked from the deck of his ship how the Avatar escaped in his flying bison. He gritted his teeth and seethed from the frustration he was feeling. "No Avatar, no prince. The only thing I have is five traitors." He looked down to watch in disgust to the fire sages who were chained in front of him.

"But commander… only Shyu helped the Avatar." Protested the eldest.

Then the temple exploded in an explosion of white fire and a deafening angry shriek. Zhao gave the sage a deadpan look "Well... tell that to the White Flame. After this disaster she will want to vent her anger with someone and that will not be me."


	7. Chapter 6

**Askaroth here, hope you are enjoying this story. Remember I only own the Oc.**

 **Warning! There is some gore in this chapter. Blame Crisis for that. Anyway, review, follow and fav. I liked NCHX review a lot, thanks dude.**

Chapter 6

On the deck of the Black Fang, Crisis was enjoying a vision that would give many nightmares while she was getting tanned. The five fire sages were sentenced by her to torture when Zhao presented them trying to appease her ire after being drowned in lava by Roku. The cries of pain and the screams of agony were music to her ears.

To humiliate them more she decided to sing in a sweet childlike voice "One little sage sentenced to the claw. Four more to go and so little time." The man in question had his four limbs trapped in individual iron rods with curved spikes sprouting in random intervals, skinning alive the victim for every tiny movement. His arms and legs where now a ruin of scarred muscle, coagulated blood and small patches of skin left. He was breathing, barely.

"Two little sages sentenced to the wheel. Spinning around trying not to puke." Her eyes watched in glee as another sage was spinning slowly in an iron wheel with his hands and feet broken beyond repair in a gruesome manner, the bone exposed and a bloody hammer next to him.

"Three little sages sentenced to maw. Crushing down a rebellious little knee." The third man had a kind of tourniquet on both knees with sharp and thick screws on both ends resembling the maw of an animal. The screws were all the way inside his knees. A bit of blood was dripping from the cruel device forming a pool under it. He was unconscious, and his legs were bent in an odd angle.

"Four little sages sentenced to the chair. A really uncomfortable spiky little chair." The oldest one was chained naked to an iron chair full of little metal thorns that were now full of blood and feces. He was pale for the all the blood lost but still alive and in a world of pure pain.

Then Crisis stood up and walked to the last one, her favorite. "Five little sages sentenced to the pole. Guilty of treason and covered in salt." The last half of the sentence was spoken in a darker and scarier tone. Shyu was tied to a wooden pole in the deck in only his underwear. He was full of cuts and bruises all done by her fists. She had been using him as a training dummy for days. His tongue was removed just like all his fingers. He couldn´t move cause all his bones under his neck were now broken due to the amount of punches and kicks she had practiced on him. It was a human waste without a chance to recuperate.

Crisis had been having fun with them almost for a week and a half before deciding to use those devices. They had suffered entire days tied to the deck floor rotting under the sun with dozens of small cuts covered in salt and sea water from time to time. The screams were delightful for the first five days but on the seventh it became too repetitive. Crushing their manhood under her soles solved that and now they were barely alive after almost two weeks of torture.

" _If my beloved Vlad was here… he would certainly have even more creative ways to torture them. His world was far more exciting than this one. You could even learn a thing or two of those ninjas that he brags about all the time or from Esdeath too. That ice bitch is a true sadist and a master of torture. Hope she hasn´t tried anything on my beloved. Cause if she did…_ " Complained Crystal from inside her own mind. Crisis was annoyed about that too but didn´t complain. As long as she could be set loose from time to time she would be happy.

"Guards!" She roared full of authority and power that made the sages cower in fear. They arrived just twenty seconds later. Crisis didn´t even turn around to address them. "Throw those pieces of garbage out of my ship. I´ll take care of this one." She stood behind Shyu´s pole and raised it over her head like it weighted less than a feather. "Greet Roku on my behalf, scum." She throwed him like a spear into the open sea and watched satisfied how it splashed two hundred meters away from her ship.

Ignoring the future corpses that were being disposed by her guards she went to the bridge to laid over her throne/sofa. Again, she was sailing aimlessly across the sea and no clue were to go.

Crystal took control of her body again and decided to question her first officer. "Captain, any news from Rin or Tarik?" She asked in a casual manner. Her dark half was satisfied and would not bother her for a while, so she decided to retake her responsibilities.

"Yes general. Some messages have been dropped this morning that may be of your interest." The Captain gave a signal and two guards brought a red chest to her throne and left back to their posts. Inside the chest a series of messages with the Fire Nation seal on them could be found along a small package covered in green and blue cloth.

"Let's see…" The White Flame took the first sealed letter and broke the wax seal with her nail. "Sighting of pirates close to the colonies. Loss of some merchant ships. Pfff, not interested in your problems governor Cheng."

She burned the letter and took another. "Sabotage and destruction of Gaipan damp? By a bunch of brats, no less?" She read it out loud. "Tell the officer in charge of the town that he is fired, literally."

"Ehh? This is just a damage report from the other day´s storm. I´m not going to read it." Crystal crumbled the paper and tossed it behind her, hitting a guard in the face.

The next one was properly addressed to her as a report written by Colonel Shinu about the deeds of the current admiral. "Ohh, so Zhao managed to capture the Avatar, but he lost it against a bandit called The Blue Spirit. And everything on the day after being promoted to Admiral. HAHAHA" She rolled over the sofa laughing like a maniac and grasping her ribs. "Zhao, your misfortune is no doubt a cause of joy to me. Ahhhh… someone send the man a congratulation letter on my behalf for his promotion. I want to see If he is capable of something more than competing with Zuko to capture the kid."

She frowned when she read the next "A volcano erupted next to an earth kingdom town. But no lives were lost, nor a house was destroyed. Who is the idiot that thought it was smart to send me this? I want the fucker beaten to dead." She burned the letter in her hand and took another. "This one is Tarik´s. He already started the siege against Omashu. Excellent. And the last one is Rin´s along with the package." Crystal unwrapped the cloths and was surprised to find a flask of glass which gave off a wonderful and sweet smell. "The mechanist will take another week to have the blueprints. _As expected._ A brief report of a skirmish against some water tribe warriors. _Nice_. And a gift from an abbey of nuns that makes perfumes and cures. Cute detail."

Crystal sniffed the flask for a whole minute losing herself over the delicate smell of the perfume. A second later she had decided what she was going to do. "Gentleman, we have a new course. We go northwest, to the abbey. I´m going on a shopping spree." Announced the White Flame holding the flask high in the air in glee. All the men nodded obediently, but mentally they were cursing Rin and her gift.

A day later, she reached the abbey accompanied by ten soldiers and a carriage. Crystal wasn´t expecting to find the place almost destroyed. The abbey consisted in a square construction with a long U-shaped building acting as the exterior wall as well as the storage, the perfume processing room and the residences of the nuns. In the center was the main temple separated from a stone yard by rectangular pool and a wooden bridge. Several walls and rooftops were broken by some serious blunt blows. Probably by large animals. The damages that draw her attention were the burns all over the floor. Obviously made by a fire bender. The nuns were alerted by the presence of the soldiers but remained silent and just watched. One of the nuns approached her and bowed in respect. She was wearing the same white and brown robes as her sisters, but the hat was slightly different because it wasn´t plain and squared but rolled white cloths instead.

"Welcome to our humble abbey. How can we help you?" Asked the nun in a neutral and appeasing tone.

"Good evening, sister." Greeted Crystal in friendly but firm tone. "I have come to your abbey in search of your famous perfumes. The sample sent to me by my subordinate was… scarce for my tastes."

The nun in charge introduced herself as Mother Superior and accepted to show her around. If she was nervous of her presence or the soldiers she didn´t display it. There were plenty of jars of perfumes to see and unfortunately for General Balkran´s men, she wanted to smell each and every one of them. She was like a kid in a candy store with unlimited money to spend. The poor soldiers ended up carrying a dozen of boxes with perfume flasks, soaps, incense, salts and jars with oils. Once she was satisfied, Crystal commanded them to return to the ship and load her precious cargo while she took a stroll in the near woods. Nothing was worthy of her attention, at least until she reached the beach. There she found a small boat of the water tribe stranded on the sand.

"So, this is what those savages left behind after their skirmish with Rin. What should I do? Search for Rin personally or visit the fire festival in my honor in that town north from here?" Inspecting the place, she detected several footsteps belonging to an adult and at least three kids. "Tempting indeed… nah, I have been there so many times it has become boring to deadly levels. Better return to the Black Fang and coordinate something via letter." Turning around she dismissed the idea waving her hand in front of her face. Before leaving the beach, she pointed a finger back to the boat and created a tiny fire ball that slowly and lazily floated towards the ship. The second the flame touched the wood, it exploded in a massive raging inferno that engulfed the boat completely. Crystal kept walking, ignoring the white column of fire behind her.

"Now I really want Rin to give me an oil massage." She muttered softly, annoyed that her subordinate was too far away to fulfill her wishes.

* * *

Inside a tiny and cramped campaign tent in a Fire Nation outpost, a loud sneeze could be heard. Rin shuddered thinking what her master wanted of her now. "Please don´t be an oil session. Please don´t be an oil session." Every time she was away and Crystal though of her, a cold chill ran down her spine. She was trying to take her mind away from those lewd situations and concentrate on the task ahead. Hating War minister Qin. The weaselcrow of a man tried to manipulate her in becoming his personal bodyguard and right hand. In his mind she was the muscle and he the brain. In the real world she was simply both and she had no desire to leave Crystal´s side. But the man was stubborn and wanted Rin to do his dirty work. Something she needed to do anyway but Qin thought she was finally obeying him.

Her master had ordered her to retrieve the last blueprints for The Project. The mechanist had been stalling for time, but the deadline was today, and she would have them, one way or another. Rin walked to the base of the mountain and used a small lift to raise up to the northern air temple. "Your time is up, crazy old man. If you refuse to give me the blueprints… you will see what my spear is capable of. Just like that savage from the water tribe." Gripping the metal pole of her weapon a small trace of electricity jumped from her skin to the steel. Her monotone expression turned into a scary frown as the lift reached its destination. A small gate opened over her head and Rin entered into a room full of blueprints, strange machines and tiny scaled prototypes of old and new inventions. She even saw a small replica of the Black Fang on a shelf. The most important thing was standing in front of her in the middle of the room.

The Mechanist was bald in the top of his head, a thick dark brown bear and moustache with a monocle drawn on his left eye, irregular brows like something had blown up in his face, messy hair raised like two horns, a white apron full of soot and a green thick shirt under it. For Rin, this was the look of a true mad scientist.

"You know what I came for. My master will not wait anymore." She growled the last part, making the man flinch in fear. "What are you waiting for?" Barked the prodigy in anger.

"Nothing, sorry." He negated with his head. "Over here" He turned around to search quickly for the desired blueprints. Just when he was approaching a coat rack with a red cylinder hanging from a black rope next to the door, a gust of wind pushed a table and closed the exit.

From behind a bunch of crates a bald boy with a blue arrow tattoo and yellow and orange clothes jumped on top of the table and pointed a wooden staff at her. He seemed mad, probably for her being Fire Nation, but Rin couldn´t care less.

"The deal is off." He ordered in a precarious attempt to look intimidating and make her back away.

Rin scoffed and ignored the kid. "So… can you give me the blueprints now?" Even if she was annoyed by the rude interruption she wasn´t going to waste time fighting the Avatar.

"Didn´t you hear me? You are not getting anything from here. Leave now." The Avatar tried to push her away with another gust of wind, but she remained unfazed although her hair was now undone and blocked the vision of her left eye and scar.

The female fire bender tilted her head, empty expression now on her face, and didn´t bother to even acknowledge the air bender. "Are you sure you want to risk the safety of your son for a piece of paper? Yes, I know he is behind those crates. We are in a closed room and air just makes the fire burn faster." Her statement made the man widen his eyes in fear and started to sweat. He was conflicted between obeying her or trusting the Avatar to save him and his son. "Last chance. You can take your chances with me, the right hand of the White Flame or with the novice Avatar." To hammer the final nail in the coffin she pointed her spear to the crates where the son of the mechanist was cowering behind.

The Avatar seemed ready to take her on but stopped when the mechanist stood between him and the female fire bender, a red cylinder in hand. "Aang, that's enough."

"But…" The young monk tried to reason but the scientist interrupted harshly.

"Stay out of this!" Begged the man. He then turned around to face Rin. "I will give you the blueprints but please don´t hurt us." She nodded and extended her hand to him. The mechanist handed her the red cylinder and stepped back.

"Smart choice. But I´m afraid that the war minister would like to know that the Avatar is hiding here." She grinned at the outraged face of the air bender and the despair in the old man knowing his new home was going to be destroyed along with his son.

"Wait! You promised that you wouldn´t hurt them." Snarled Aang in fury.

"And I will keep my word. I have better things to do than play with you and your new friends. But minister Qin will do in my place. Have fun with the invasion and the White Flame sends her regards." She stomped the lift and started to descend down the mountain, not giving them time to complain.

In the way back, she tied her hair in a bun with a golden bird pin that she took out of her pocket. Once her hair was normal again, she returned to the campsite a couple of miles south of the temple. When Rin entered Qin´s tent, she didn´t expect him to be ordered to hand the blueprints like a common soldier. She was the elite of the Fire Nation, she wouldn´t tolerate such disrespect from a delusional and lecherous old weaselcrow.

Tired of Qin´s attempt to control her, she backhanded him. The blow made the man drop on his butt and four guards try to detain her for attacking a superior officer. A serious mistake. In less than five seconds they were on the ground clutching their heads and stomach.

"Listen, Qin" Rin´s voice was like extremely sharp spikes of ices piercing his heart and drowning him in a cold and oppressive fear. "The only one that can order me is General Balkran. You don´t have any kind of authority over my person. Now… the Avatar is inside the air temple and the mechanist has quitted our cause. I suggest you burn the place to the ground and that… is a direct order from the White Flame. She also wants some new schematics for her war machines and this man probably has some hidden in there. You are not leaving this place until you found something of value for the Fire Nation. Is that clear?" She put the tip of her spear under his throat to emphasize the strength of her order. When the cold metal barely touched his skin, a couple of hundred volts of electricity went through his body.

The man recoiled in shock and pain clutching his cheek in fear of another discharge. "Y-yes. Crystal clear." He covered his face while he nodded and bowed like the coward he was. Rin throwed the cylinder at him in disgust and left the tent in search of the messenger post of the camp. The man in charge of the post recognized Rin the second she set foot inside and bowed to her as if a general had entered the tent. He searched behind the counter for a couple of seconds before giving her a sealed letter. When she saw the symbol of a fire spiting snake in the wax seal she teared it open immediately and began to read.

 _Rin, if you are reading this then your assignment must already be completed under the expected time. Congratulations my dear for another job well done. You must travel now to the northern outpost of the naval fleet. Wait for me there and watch the new Admiral closely. He may be up to something._

 _Pd: I bought some oil jars for some of our… massage sessions._

 _Yours truly, Crystal Balkran, Supreme General of the Fire Nation Army._

Rin kept a stoic face while reading the letter but, on the inside, she was sweating bullets. " _Not again. Please tell me it isn't like the last time when she made me bath with her and oil her scales. Her hands and tongue were everywhere."_ After some seconds of internal panicking, she resigned herself to her lewd fate. She then went to gather her few belongings from her tent and started to travel north on her personal Moongose Lizard.


	8. Chapter 7

**Askaroth here, hope you are enjoying the story. I only own the oc nothing else.**

 **With this chapter we reach the end of the first book.**

 **Warning, a little sexual sugestions in here. Meh, probably not even needed.**

 **Please review, follow and fav. I would like to read your opinions.**

Chapter 7

In the northern outpost, there was a massive Fire Nation Camp that was easily ten times bigger than the one she had been just a couple of days before. The docks were massive enough to handle at least five Black Fangs and the hundreds of red tents looked like a crimson sea. Admiral Zhao was in a meeting with various low and middle rank captains analyzing a map of the four nations. More specifically the north pole.

"Gentlemen." Greeted Zhao starting the meeting. "You may wonder why I called you all today and why I requested all the men at your disposition." He stood straight, his chin high and an aura of superiority and arrogance almost visible emanating of his body.

"The Avatar is heading north. To the Northern Water Tribe to be more precise. He needs to learn water bending from a master and he will surely find it there."

The Admiral exposed the situation to the captains who frowned at the mention of the Avatar and even one of them decided to speak his mind. "Then what are we waiting for? Let´s get him!"

"Patience Captain Li" Zhao scolded him lightly and turned around, his hands crossed on his back. "The Avatar isn´t the only price here. We are talking about the strongest city of the Water Tribe. The tundra is a mortal trap. The landscape is a wasteland of snow and they buildings look like an ice fortress. We cannot rely on General Balkran´s power here because she is forbidden to attack the city by Agni himself. We need massive invasion forces."

The captains started to whisper and talk about Zhao´s idea. They seemed to agree and where confident that they would be able to conquer the city easily. They conversed for some minutes until they heard the sounds of someone clapping. Everyone turned around to the entrance of the tent. A lonely and elegant figure was standing there generating the sound in a monotonous and boring rhythm. It was a female with a blue and black shield and a spear on her back. Grey metal spiked pauldrons over wool pads on her shoulders, dark red greaves on her shins and a light breastplate of the same color, the symbol of a white snake spiting fire engraved in the middle of it.

"Finally, someone dared again. The White Flame will be pleased to know that the Northern Water Tribe is going to be melted soon." She nodded in respect of Zhao´s plan. It was bold and risky, but General Balkran wished the war to end as fast as possible and this was one of the main targets. "Although we cannot leave the north colonies unprotected to an earth kingdom attack calling all the soldiers to this operation. This needs to be properly planed and balanced."

Zhao was ecstatic by hearing that his idea will please General Balkran and making history at the same time. But the logic on the second part was a truth that he couldn't overlook. "You are right, Lady Rin. It will be a little harder than expected but just a minor setback. Would you like something to drink? We can talk more about this invasion in my personal tent, so you can report to your master." Offered the Admiral in a kind and friendly tone. Too friendly and suspicious for Rin´s.

Still she accepted the offer and accompanied Zhao to his tent. He gave her food, wine and even a tub of hot water to bathe. Rin kept her guard up all the time but remained polite and thankful for the attention. After discussing the invasion plan with a little more detail, she left the Admiral´s tent and send a messenger hawk to the Black Fang. Her master was eager to see another capital fall in Fire Nation hands and slay everyone in it like she did to the air nomads. She knew many others have tried to conquer this ice wasteland before and under her master´s gaze, but it only ended being a waste of resources. They usually ended a head shorter for their incompetence or just as a pile of ashes. Rin may have been serving the Fire Nation for only a year now, but she had been under Crystal´s care for almost three years. The prodigy knew the real reason why her master never put much effort in commanding an invasion force to the north pole. It was so simple that Rin would have break her stoic mask and laughed in the face of the one that told her if not for the fact that she was told by Crystal herself.

* * *

Crystal and Crisis both hated the cold with passion. Even though she was immortal and couldn´t be harmed, not even by extreme climate exposure, the cold was something she always dreaded and felt in her scales. It bothered her to no end feeling sleepy and slow when the temperature dropped. The farther she went into the north, the more she regretted supporting Zhao and his invasion plan with her presence and advice. Not even transformed in her human form she could be freed from the dreadful feeling. In moments like this she wished to be held in the arms of her beloved inside a hot bathtub, cuddling and kissing while Crisis imagined herself inside a burning city killing humans left and right.

"Better be prepared for the consequences if you fail, Zhao." She warned to the air as if her message would be delivered no matter the distance. Her main concern now was picking up Rin, head to the Northern Water tribe and rendezvous with the main fleet. She grinned in lust thinking which oil she will make her use to massage her scales once Rin was inside the Black Fang.

When her monstrous ship docked in the outpost harbor, she ordered the soldiers to bring Rin and Zhao to her and discuss some strategies. To her displeasure her men reported that Zhao had already left the outpost to recruit Iroh personally as an advisor along Zuko´s crew just to bother him. Crystal growled at the Admiral´s boldness to bring Iroh in to the same place as her and importunate her apprentice abusing his authority. But she remained silent. The opportunity of melting the Northern Water Tribe was enough to endure Zhao´s disrespect. After the conquest well… he was as good as dead, or half, she hadn´t decided yet.

As soon as her crew replenished any lacking supplies, they sailed to the north followed by twenty battleships that had remained in the outpost waiting for her. Rin cursed inwardly inside the private baths of her master while giving Crystal oiled massages to her scales. Don´t get her wrong, Rin was devoted and loyal to the General. But even she couldn´t stand her perverted nature when the two were alone. That was the only flaw Rin could point in her adoptive goddess of a mother. Crystal liked to play with her long and snake like tongue a lot in the bath and, to Rin´s shame, she couldn´t deny how good it made her feel. Although she would prefer to die a thousand times before she admitted it out loud.

After two days they reached the main fleet. Zhao´s flagship was leading in the center of the formation with the Black Fang behind. The Admiral´s empire class battleship had a golden dragon figurehead at the front with a large knife-like horn pointing to the skies and a command bridge built like a fire temple. Crystal left her luxurious room, worthy of royalty and full of trophies that would leave the eccentric nobles green of envy. The stuffed head of a white dragon was the main piece of the collection. It´s head as big as her bed and it´s fangs as long and sharp as daggers. A souvenir from a glorious and fun battle that happened a long time ago. She put on a red cape with high neck that reached down to her knees and had a ferocious and threatening detailed golden snake spiting white flames to the ground. Under the cape you could only see a polished dark crimson busty breastplate made to look like it was made of scales decorated with black figures of snake people holding swords in perfect symmetry one from another. Her legs were covered in heavy spiked armor and draconic helmet adorning her head gave her an air of authority and power so mighty that one look was enough to feel breathless and insignificant in her presence. The dark orange hair flowed under the helmet like soft rivers and floated in the wind making her appearance more wild and ominous. She was also wearing metal gauntlets that matched the breastplate color and was itching to use them on an enemy and turn it into a bloody paste… well that was mostly Crisis.

She decided to make a huge jump capable of competing against a master air bender and landed on the rear of Zhao´s flagship. The soldiers were unprepared to see her arrive like that and pointed their weapons to her. But just as fast as they shouted intruder, they felt to the ground in absolute submission under the powerful deadly aura that she emanated. Crystal walked unopposed to the command bridge and found Zhao and Iroh looking through the windows, gaze fixed on the horizon. She frowned at Iroh cause she expected him to remain by Zuko´s side instead of taking the chance of helping the Admiral. " _Maybe a simple and direct question would be enough. Lying and plotting isn´t Iroh´s style._ " Though Crystal in a dismissive manner of the old man´s personality.

"Gentleman. Are you ready to make history?" Greeted Crystal sinisterly as she walked in and delighted herself with the eyes and words of admiration from the officers and soldiers about her look.

Zhao nodded and smiled, he was also ogling her discreetly but stopped once he made eye contact. "O-of course General Balkran. Just think about it… in one hundred years the people will study how the White Flame and Admiral Zhao destroyed the last vestige of the Northern Water Tribe."

Crystal chuckled mockingly at the man's ambition. "Oh that´s not necessary. I had already witness it in the academy. Is truly funny to see the kids reacting to my presence and correcting the teachers about history lessons and war events." She looked proud of her legacy and Zhao felt that he could obtain the same kind of fame if he was successful.

"You should be careful what you wish for, Admiral. History is not usually kind with its protagonists." Iroh decided to add his own two copper coins into the conversation.

"Must be talking from experience I suppose. But I assure you that this will have nothing to do with your legendary failure in Ba Sing Se." Replied the Admiral confident and arrogant as always.

"I hope not. For your sake." Said the retired general in a tired tone.

"Iroh is right." She spat those three words in disgust as she burned a hole with her gaze on the Admiral´s forehead. "If this invasion fails you can say goodbye to your military career… and your life." Warned Crystal in a more neutral tone like it was a simple fact. Zhao nodded, a little nervous but remained silent. Then she turned to Iroh to shoot her question. "Where is Zuko? I cannot believe that you would leave him alone after almost three years with him in the exile. So, tell me, where is he now?"

They were sure she already knew but it seems they were wrong. The question made both men open their eyes in surprise and fear of the possible reaction of the woman in front of them. Zhao could already feel a cold sweat running down his neck and his heart started to beat so fast that threatened to jump out of his mouth. Iroh felt his limbs turn cold and the taste of bile in his mouth but still both managed to remain with a surprised expression instead of one of terror. It was the retired general that decided to break the long uncomfortable silence to gave her the news. His face turned sorrowful and a bit angry, he also seemed like he had gained ten more years "General Balkran. Mi nephew, he is… dead."

Crystal´s pupils turned into slits and her iris alternated between red and green while she hissed furiously with her forked tongue and showed her sharp white fangs. "How?" Was the only thing she asked trying to suppress her rising anger.

"Pirates." Answered Zhao quickly. He now was truly fearful for his life.

"Yes. Some pirates that we found previously in our journey took revenge on us making the ship explode with Zuko inside." Explained Iroh in pain for just remembering the moment of the explosion.

Crystal watched both men squirm silently under her murderous gaze and clenched her fangs in rage. She walked past them and went to the balcony of the bridge. Then she jumped to the deck below leaving a big dent in the metal floor and jumped again. She landed to the tip of the horn that belonged to the golden dragon figurehead of the ship. A second later a deafening roar could be heard by all the Fire Nation fleet along a giant torrent of white flames that reached so high it left a hole in the cloudy sky, courtesy of the burned coal from all the battleships. Crisis remained silent in her head. Even her demonic part had a little of affection towards the prince in her own twisted way.

* * *

Zhao was able to breath again and Iroh felt his hands where shaking uncontrollably. "That could have been our end." Said a pale and still fearful Admiral. "T-tell the Captains to prepare the vanguard." He managed to find his own voice to give Iroh his order.

The old man nodded and left the bridge. He calmed himself using breathing exercises. In the corridors of the ship he found a guard that was standing in the spot they had arranged. Iroh approached him silently and stopped once they were watching in opposite directions, their shoulders almost touching. "We will disembark soon. Do you have a plan?"

The guard took off his white mask, but his horned helmet remained on. It was a standard uniform for fire bender soldiers. Zuko´s face was now visible, but he had some nasty cuts and bruises. "Still making the preparations. If I heard right my master now knows of my dead."

Iroh nodded and watched the corridor to make sure now one was coming. "You better be prepared to face her wrath soon, prince. Remember these wise last words: Hell knowns no fury like a woman scorned."

"Then I pity Zhao once she learns the truth." Answered Zuko as he put his mask back on to continue his plan.

* * *

A couple hours later, Zhao, Iroh and a bad-tempered but more calmed Crystal were watching the vanguard of battleships throw their projectiles over the walls of the Northern Water Tribe capital. From their position, they could only see a smooth wall of ice decorated with the symbols of the ocean and the moon and the ice palace far behind. After some ships were sunk or immobilized by icebergs created by water benders, she ordered The Black Fang to approach a little more to the vanguard. The cruel row of ballista had quite a long range and started to rain down their targets with deadly precision and gory results. Many water tribe warriors were torn to shreds mercilessly while their boats burned due to the special oil inside the giant bolts. Zhao watched the massacre in glee and Crisis grins maliciously inside while Crystal remained stoic. Iroh averts his gaze, incapable of watching the carnage in hopes of not remembering that dreadful day when he lost his son.

The Avatar had been on board many battleships and managed to incapacitate every one of them. He seemed to always be out of range of the Black Fang after a volley of ballista bolts were launched his way and almost made a pincushion out of the bison had it not been for the air dome he created to deflect them. They may have lost at least a dozen of ships like that but at the end it wasn´t enough to stop the fleet. They were more than a hundred out in the sea. She could have just go to the Avatar and kill him with one of her overpowered attacks. But Crystal wasn´t in the mood to even lift a finger and Crisis seemed to be too occupied torturing souls that she had eaten through her immortal life as well as enjoying the carnage in front of her.

"Admiral is almost dusk. As your advisor I must suggest you stop the attack. The water benders gather their power from the moon. We are going to have some heavy casualties if we continue during the night." Iroh´s word made Zhao turn his gaze from the battlefield and toward the retired general.

"I´m aware of the problem of the moon. And I´m planning on a solution. For now we will have to resume battle at dawn."

Crystal arched a brow after hearing Zhao´s comment to the problem of the moon and Iroh stroked his bear trying to decipher it´s meaning. All the ships dropped their anchors and stopped the attack. She returned to the Black Fang, which was back to its original position behind the Admiral´s flagship, with another mighty jump. She bothered Rin by asking some massages on her shoulders but it didn´t went further than switching positions. Rin was perplexed by the request but relaxed once she felt the warm and gentle contact of her master´s hands over her skin. Crystal was lost in thought about Zuko´s death but also about Zhao´s word to the solution of the moon problem. Her mind was now divided in two, at least her own half. Half was the pissed off motherly side that was devastated by Zuko´s dead and the other was the ruthless logical part that only cared about completing her job. Rin was oblivious to this and could only moan in pleasure due to the professional massage given by her master.

Right now, her logical side prevailed and the pissed off motherly side needed to calm down and wait for an opportunity to blow some steam later on.

The next morning came quite quickly and she was back again in Zhao´s flagship along the Admiral and Iroh on the command bridge balcony. But this time, she had Rin and Razzor as bodyguards.

"Do I need to remind you that we have a time limit? If we cannot subdue the water tribe by nighttime they will be invincible" Iroh´s warning started to sound annoying for Crystal, but he was right, and It was a valid concern in this invasion.

"Don´t worry. I have everything under control. I´m thinking in eliminating the moon as factor."

"Eliminating the moon? How?" Asked a truly baffled Crystal. The plan sounded impossible even for her. She didn´t have the power to destroy something as big as that but she could still devoid it of life on the surface if it had any, when her power was unrestricted by her true master.

Before Zhao could respond, a man with a uniform that Crystal hadn´t seen in eighty years entered the balcony holding a spear and taking off the helmet. It was a Water Tribe savage. "Admiral Chao, Fire Witch, time to meet your fate." Declared with boldness or in this case stupidity the intruder while running at them in a laughable and pathetic attempt to kill them. The White Flame snapped her fingers, gauntlet on, and Rin made him trip using her spear. Then Razzor grabbed him by his neck and launched him up in the air. Then he fired a concentrated chi blast that blew him up before the poor bastard had time to scream. A red mist and some chunks of flesh and bones felt down to the icy waters below.

Zhao remained unphased by the execution and so was Crystal. Iroh had a disgusted expression on his face but knew well to remain silent. "As I was saying… years before I learned a great and powerful secret. The identities of the mortal vessel of the spirit of the moon."

"What?" Asked Crystal and Iroh at the same time.

"I was a young lieutenant serving under General Shu in an Earth Kingdom outpost. I discovered a buried library. It was underground to be more precise. I registered every manuscript there…" Crystal´s eyes narrowed as she clenched her teeth upset. "One of them had a detailed illustration of the words moon and ocean written on it. Then I knew that these spirits could be found… and killed. Since them it has been my destiny to do it."

Iroh looked outraged and furious by this declaration. "Zhao, you are walking on very thin ice here! The spirits are serious matter.

"Yes, yes. I know you fear the spirits Iroh. General Balkran here is the proof. But the ocean and the moon renounced their immortality to be part of the world. And now they will face the consequences."

"How do you know they are not like her, immortal." Countered Iroh, his eyes narrowed, and his fist clenched as well.

Zhao was going to answer back but Crystal interrupted by grabbing him by the collar of his robes. She put him face to face with her and spoke slowly in a threatening dark tone. "Admiral… did you enter a room with the symbol of a red snake on the door?"

The man in question looked at her in the eyes in complete shock, all arrogance and confidence lost inside the abyss of her pupil. "Admiral Zhao… for the wellbeing of your soul… you better pray Agni that my personal room inside that library is still intact. Now both of you get out of my sigh." She pushed him to the side and he didn´t doubt to obey, followed by Iroh who watched at her suspiciously until he left the balcony.

"I´m gonna stay to watch till the end. But once this battle is over I´ll go to Wan Shi Tong library." Rin and Razzor nodded in understanding. Not even Crisis dared to laugh about Crystal´s private collection.

The night had fallen, and the full moon was shining over the carnage that was the battlefield. Crystal was frustrated. She could only watch from her own ship using her fancy spyglass. Zhao had entered an hour ago into the city along a big chunk of their invasion forces. The problem was that they were having trouble with the power up of the water benders due to the moon. She wouldn´t send Rin or Razzor knowing they could be overwhelmed and killed for something she wasn´t sure was going to work.

It was then that… defying all logic, the white and soothing light of the moon turned to a disturbing crimson red. It was a terrifying and magnificent view. She could feel the despair of the water benders trying to use their bending only to fail miserably. The tides were now turned against them and victory was now secured.

"I must admit. Zhao´s idea was truly ingenious. Still… even if he is named Ozai´s successor I´m going to kill him if a single book from my collection is missing." She vowed darkly to the cold night that send shivers down her scales. Crystal´s temperature was quite low now, but it was worth it. The destruction of the Water Tribe was in the grasp of the Fire Nation and a hot bath tube and some massages could fix her temperature problem.

But…to her disappointment, the moon turned normal again after a couple of minutes. "Well… it seems the admiral is as incapable as…" Her words died in her mouth when the moon turned black and everything became dulled grey.

" _Tch, I liked the red more._ " Hissed an annoyed Crisis who was shaking inside her mindscape surrounded by snow.

Rin watched in amazement to the city as a bright blue light raised from behind the ice palace. A gigantic figure with humanoid form, a white sphere of light in the middle of its chest, made of glowing water and the head of a Koi fish started to wipe out the Fire Nation men inside the city. Crystal growled and seethed in rage but didn´t move. She was forbidden from entering the city.

* * *

Zhao was running for his life through the icy rooftops and bridges of the capital. He was trying to return to the safety of his ship now that he had killed the moon spirit and the world had turned grey. But he wasn´t counting on Iroh to attack him so viciously after warning him that he would destroy the balance of the world if he harmed the stupid fish. The Avatar and his pathetic friends tried to convince him too and in a moment of doubt he returned the captured spirit back on his pond. The problem presented itself when he remembered General´s Balkran warning. " _If this invasion fails you can say goodbye to your military career… and your life._ " That had been enough to try one last desperate attempt to save himself. He attacked the fish with a quick fire whip before anyone could stop him and then Iroh attacked him. Without his bodyguards he was outnumbered and had to flee the scene. Now a gigantic angry spirit was washing away his troops inside the city and his only possible salvation was General Balkran.

He was halfway through the city when a fire ball landed in front of him. Zhao turned around to see his assailant and paled when he recognized the face of someone he was sure would never see again. Zuko. "You are alive?"

"You tried to kill me!" Roared Zuko and jumped down from his rooftop sending a powerful wave of fire to the Admiral.

Zhao barely dodged, and adopted a battle stance, ready to burn the prince to ashes. "That´s right. You are the Blue Spirit. An enemy of the Fire Nation. You released the Avatar and you are just a poison to General Balkran." Zhao justified himself and retaliated with a fire whip that Zuko nullified kicking a mound of snow into it followed by a combo of fire kicks that threw Zhao out of balance, but the older man managed to block hardly.

"I didn´t have a choice." Answered Zuko as he pushed back the Admiral using vicious and ruthless attacks that set Zhao´s arm on fire.

The Admiral put down the fire with his other hand quickly and jumped back dodging a descending kick from the prince.

"If you would have accepted your failure then you may have… LIVED" Shouted Zhao as he sent a massive way of flames towards Zuko.

The prince´s eyes shined in determination and resolve as he created a fire spear with both hands and cut the wave of flames in two.

* * *

The colossal manifestation of the ocean spirit had reached the exterior wall of the city and was now attacking the Fire Nation battleships who where trying to turn back at full steam. The Black Fang was a good distance ahead but it wasn´t far enough. The spirit pushed the Admiral´s flagship back along some other ships which ended crashing into the hull of the White Flame´s vessel and making a long hideous scratch on it.

"NOOOOO!" A shrilling screech was heard from the balcony of the command bridge that made several soldiers blood run cold. "My beautiful ship! Call the carpenter and the painter. This is an emergency!" Crystal was panicking and started to bark orders to repair the hull even if they were in the middle of a siege. Rin sweatdropped but followed her masters commands to the T. The White Flame was now fuming and had an objective that she could attack and blow the boiling pot of steam that was her soul. The spirit was out of the Capital and that was fair play in Crystal´s book. One of her eyes turned red but both pupils turned slits showing that now both halves of her soul were enraged and were going to take out their anger in the best thing at hand. Her body was surrounded by a fire twister and her legs dissolved into scales, returning her snake half back. She took off her cape and dropped it on the floor. Using her tail she jumped high into the air and four fire wings sprouted from the back of her breastplate. With the speed of a ballista bolt she dashed through the battlefield to her target.

The angry water spirit raised its hand that turned into the shape of a long sharp knife to cut down a ship in half. Just when it was going to bring it down, something passed next to its arm evaporating the liquid limb in seconds. It regrew quickly but the spirit´s attention was now focused on the thing that dared to hurt it.

Crystal positioned herself to float in front of the glowing creature, her hands covered in elongated white fire swords. She was eager to confront it in an all out battle. The pitiful and weak human benders where not enough to keep her skills from getting rusty and this may be a good challenge. In the dark of the moonless night, her fire shined with the force of a star that raised the morale of the Fire Nation troops and was competing against the spirit to see which one was the brightest.

The ocean spirit pointed both liquid limbs at her and launched a massive volley of ice shards against her. Crystal scoffed and breathed a wave of her white fire to neutralize the shard rain. The creature then approached and turned its arms into dozens of water tentacles and tried to capture her. Using her great speed, she outmaneuvered the slow limbs while cutting them with her fire swords and evaporating many, but they simply regrew and became more vicious. It was obviously trying to overwhelm her, so she decided to switch to offensive and see if it could feel pain. She covered herself in white flames as she crashed directly into its head blowing it off in an enormous cloud of steam. She went back into her first hovering spot in the sky and watched as the creature regenerated its head and roared in fury making the seas shake as well as her own ship and the rest of the fleet. Crystal looked at the Black Fang in distress. Many battleships were approaching dangerously close to the hull and were going to crash if the seas continued to shake. That distraction was enough for the spirit to raise a titanic tower of water and freeze it, encasing her completely on ice. The Water Tribe warriors in the wall cheered in victory while the Fire Nation fleet began to flee back to open seas. Just when it was going to break the ice into a thousand shards, the pale silver light of the moon returned, calming the ocean spirit. It retreated back into the city after leaving the tired body of the Avatar over the wall who had been fused when the moon spirit was killed.

The cheers of the water warriors were confusing Aang who was struggling to stand but when he looked at the massive ice pillar just a hundred meters from there with the White Flame inside he couldn´t avoid smiling a little. Action that lasted three seconds until the ice shattered and crumble down quite fast. General Balkran was floating with her flaming wings and looked royally pissed off. The murderous look and oppressing aura made some of the men faint in the spot. All cheers were now replaced and killed by gasp of horror and screams of fear.

"LISTEN TO ME YOU WATER MAGGOTS!" Roared the White Flame with a thunderous voice. "YOU MAY HAVE WON THIS BATTLE TONIGHT. BUT MARK MY WORDS… I WILL RETURN AND MELT THIS FUCKING ICE CUBE MYSELF. THEY DAY I HAVE MY SWORD BACK YOU BETTER DROWN YOURSELVES BECAUSE DEAD WILL BE A MERCY COMPARED TO WHAT I WILL BRING HERE." Once she finished her rant she flew back to her ship. Leaving a shocked and fearful crowd behind along a confused and worried Avatar.

* * *

A couple of minutes before, Zuko and Zhao were fighting over an ice bridge. The Admiral was on his last leg and gasping for air while Zuko kept attacking without mercy. Finally, Zhao was blasted against the railing of the bridge but he didn´t raise back. He was battered and completely tired. In other words, the exiled prince had utterly defeated him. The Admiral raised his head to glare at Zuko but noticed something that shouldn´t be possible. The moon was normal again. "It cannot be!" He shouted outraged.

From the water below the bridge ten luminous water tentacles raised slowly to surround the killer of the spirit of the moon. Zuko backed away from Zhao, a dark look of satisfaction and a hint of glee in his face.

Zhao eyes meet him and knew he was doomed as the watery limbs surrounded him. Then to Zuko´s surprise, the man laughed like a maniac. "After all this time I though you were a failure… but It seems I was wrong. You really are a worthy apprentice of _her_." Confessed the man as he was slowly raised into the air and then descended towards the water. Then he sighted in defeat. "I was dead one way or another." Then he disappeared under the freezing waters along the glowing limbs.

Zuko watched as the man vanished from the living world feeling a strange sense of relief. Like if he knew that if that man was still alive he would never be at peace. Just like his master taught him. " _Dont feel at ease until you know your enemy is dead. Never know when they can send a knife in the night_ " Crystal´s lessons still echoed in his mind. He has been neglecting them in favor of his uncle's teachings, but now they sounded more accurate and true than anything Iroh had taught him so far. He decided to flee the city while everyone was busy listening to what appeared to be his master´s furious speech of incoming doom by her own hand. He found a raft and a familiar old face already aboard it.

"Need some help, nephew?" Asked Iroh in warm welcoming voice.

"Thanks, uncle." He hugged his uncle and prepared to sail into open seas. No traces of regret for leaving Zhao to die.


	9. Chapter 8

**Askaroth back, hope you are enjoying this story as much as me. I own only my oc.**

 **And now we have Azula in the equation. Warning, some OOCness ahead**

 **Please don´t forget to follow, fav and review. Thanks to those who follow. Hope you like this new chapter. I would love to know your opinions.**

Chapter 8

Sokka, Katara and Aang stood over the ice wall worried and nervous. The reason? The deadly colossal ship of the Fire Nation refused to back off of the Water Tribe territory even after the rest of the fleet was gone. The three kids were taking turns to watch using an old spyglass. It was Katara´s turn and the young water bender frowned in disgust at the sigh.

"Is that monster again." Growled the girl in an uncharacteristic dark tone after passing the spyglass to her brother.

Sokka took the tool and noticed a tall woman with dark orange hair, arms crossed over her breast, red cape, breastplate, armor on her legs and was barking orders to some men that were painting and repairing the hull of the ship. A couple seconds later she was using one of the ballista to threaten the pleading carpenters to work faster. "You got to be kidding me" He complained to the universe once he realized what she was doing and facepalmed.

"I still cannot understand why she didn´t attack yesterday. Not that I´m complaining but…" Said Aang unsure of how to approach the topic. He knew she could at least throw fire at him when he had been exhausted in the wall after fusing with the ocean spirit, but only shouted and ranted about destroying them once she recovered a sword. It didn´t have sense for him. She had the upper hand there.

"I have heard from the Chief and the old warriors that she is forbidden to set foot in any of the capitals that don´t belong to the Fire Nation. And by what I noticed over there… she seems more concerned in keeping the beauty of her ship than capturing you. Women…" Katara glared daggers into her brother´s head for that comment. "She cannot stay there forever. You two better go back to train with master Pakku. I will talk to chief Arnook about the White Flame. If the rumors are true, anyone that leaves the security of the capital will surely be killed by the fire witch."

* * *

Crystal sneezed hard while she walked in circles on the deck of the Black Fang. She growled and cursed the ocean spirit for damaging her precious vessel. Such disrespect would not remain unpunished for long. Sooner or later all her restrictions were going to be lifted and then… then the world was forfeit.

"Rin! How long until the necessary repairs are finished?" Demanded to know the general. Her patience was running thin.

"Two hours, master."

"Damn that fucking fish to hell and back. Tell the carpenters they only have one. Once it's done tell the captain that I want to leave this frozen pond at full steam. Tell the factory in Yu Dao I want the tank ready in three weeks.

"As you wish, master." Rin ran back to the command bridge leaving Crystal alone.

"Goddess I really hate this this place. My muscles are becoming hard and stiffed the more I remain here. Seems like I´m going to stay another season in the Spa again. I swear I'm not returning here until I… ACHOOO" She sneezed even harder than last time. Unfortunately this made her step on a chunk of ice making her trip and fall backwards. Crystal glared at the blue sky annoyed by her own body and Crisis immature giggle. "I hate my legs."

* * *

Three weeks passed since the failed Invasion to the Northern Water Tribe. A ship of the royalty, half the size of the Black Fang but still a lot bigger than a common battleship with a golden roaring dragon as a figurehead, was approaching the harbor of a well know colony. Aboard this ship was the fourth greatest fire bender in the world. The Fire Nation Princess Azula, sister of Zuko and a prodigy at the young age of fourteen. Her flames were blue instead of orange. The most powerful after white.

Azula was walking with perfect pose, elegant but powerful and a cold stare that made even grown men cower in fear. Fire Lord Ozai had ordered her to bring back Iroh and Zuko in chains for the failure in the North. She was confident in her abilities to manipulate and capture them quite easily.

Her focus on the task ahead was interrupted by the Captain of her personal guard. "Princess, we will not be able to disembark yet. The main harbor is full and there isn´t enough space for this ship.

Azula remained stoic and unmoved by the delay. Inside she was fuming by the stupidity and incompetence of her subordinate. "Would you be so kind captain to tell me who is the moron that dares to get in the way of the Royal Procession? Or maybe you should tell me why you haven´t given the order to burn down the ship of the disrespectful trash that dares to make me wait to dock." The princess voice was sharp and cold, capable of destroying people´s confidence by exploiting their flaws and pointing out mistakes.

The man averted his gaze in fear by the answer he was going to said. "The White Flame, princess."

Azula was ready to lash out and humiliate him until a broken empty husk was left but stopped herself after hearing the answer. She took a quick peek over the railing of the deck and confirmed herself that it was true. The Black Fang was taking almost all the space of the main harbor while the rest of the ships were all cramped next to it.

" _Just great. Now she may get in the way of my mission. Stupid Zu-zu always getting all the attention. First mom and now General Balkran. Is it because he is a failure that he got pity from them? In nature the mothers know when to abandon a weak child. No. This must be different. Zuko has something I don´t… and I will discover what it is."_ She analyzed inside her head, eyes fixed in the approaching harbor. The status of princess allowed her to get whatever she wanted just by ordering it. At least that was the usual procedure until it involved her master. She couldn´t manipulate or scare her by any means. Not even demand anything from her. The last time she did… a shiver ran down her spine thinking about the time when she still was a spoiled brat.

"Find a way to disembark. I don´t care if you have to crush a dozen of ships to do it. And better be quick, I´m itching to practice my lighting and I need a new training dummy." The threaten was left hanging in the air as the Captain went to obey the order as if the White Flame had said it.

After half an hour and a dozen of crushed wooden vessels, the royal procession managed to disembark. Azula went straight to the Black Fang to discuss her mission. She couldn´t do anything about Zuko until Crystal was warned about her intention´s and orders from the Fire Lord. As she walked through the dock, she couldn´t avoid looking at the colossal ship full of jealousy and admiration. Crystal´s war machines were truly a work of art and a symbol of power for the Fire Nation. Due to her age she wasn´t allowed to leave the capital and put her genius calculative mind to use in the war. At least until now.

Once she was on the deck, she waited for her master to appear. It was common knowledge within the ranks that no one, not even the Fire Lord dared to break into the ship unannounced and uninvited. A minute later a tall woman with short black hair, stony expression and a scar over her left eye came to greet her. "It´s a pleasure to meet you, princess. I must apologize for the scarce welcome but we weren´t expecting a visit from royalty. My name is Rin. I am the White Flame´s elite bodyguard" She said as she bowed in a respectful manner.

Azula was ready to belittle her and demand a proper welcome worthy of her title but when she meet her eyes, she thought it better. It was like watching a mirror. A mirror into the future. This woman was displaying an aura of elegance and power that surpassed even hers. She felt outclassed by just locking gazes. " _She is not like the others. She isn´t going to stand there and crumble with some cruel words. So… this is one of my master´s elites? Her presence alone is enough to put me in full alert."_

"Ah, eh… Rin. The pleasure is mine. Don´t worry about the welcome, I just wanted to have a little chat with General Balkran." Azula greeted back with a polite and neutral tone. Rin seemed to be a dangerous woman if angered. She preferred to have her in her good side in case of necessity.

"Once again, I must apologize, princess. She is not here right now." Answered Rin in the same polite but neutral tone as her. "Do you want to leave a message, or would you like to have a cup of tea first?"

"No thanks. I need to talk to her in person. Is about a mission and I can´t afford to waste my time. No offence to your offer." Azula kept a blank expression at all time while talking to Rin. Now she understood how her servants felt every time she talked to her. Like a predator was waiting for them to show the most minuscule trace of doubt or fear to tear them apart.

Rin´s face also remained blank, but her eyes showed something that Azula could identify as annoyance. The princess resisted the urge to scowl, thinking that those feelings were directed at her.

"Okay…" She sighted slowly and tiredly. "… She is in the bathhouse of Yu Han receiving… massages on her strained scales. The General has been there for three days and hasn´t returned yet."

Azula raised an eyebrow and, for the first time in the conversation, she showed a small smile on her lips. "She made you part of the sessions, right?" Now she understood why the annoyance in Rin´s eyes. It wasn´t a secret to her that her master was a pervert in private and the female warrior in front of her didn´t seem to enjoy those moments… completely.

A vein bulged over Rin´s right eye but she remained with her stony expression on. "Worst. I had to join her in the hot spring."

The princess nodded in understanding. Before Zuko´s banishment, Crystal had invited her to the thermal pools in the palace. She joined her out of curiosity cause it was an adults place and couldn´t slip inside cause of her master´s always watching soldiers. Sometimes she wanted to forget the lewd and perverted things her master did with the female servants but the only thing that she managed to do was getting a crimson blush on her cheeks. "Well, I´m going to speak with her now. I´m looking forward to see you again, Rin."

"It was a pleasure, princess."

* * *

 **Two hours before**

"Ahhhh, I could get used to this." Her long moan of pleasure made the men massaging her stop to look at her weirdly. But opening just an eye made them avert they gaze and continue with the task. Crystal was laying over a couple of wooden tables lined up to fit the length of her snake tail. She was covering her breasts and waist with a single white towel and her beautiful orange hair wrapped in a red towel. The servants were working on her strained scales using the oils from the abbey and hot rocks plus some acupuncture needles.

" _I must admit… missed the place like no other._ " Commented a relaxed Crisis inside her mindscape in the same situations as her but she had snacks at her disposition. The curious thing was that those snacks looked like small green spheres containing… terrified humans and she popped them in her mouth like candy. Crystal was so entranced by the awesome feeling of her relaxed scales that she blocked the image in her head easily. Eating humans was outside her range of possibilities until she completed the job. Her true form was sealed and out from her grasp. If she had been able to endure for a century without her favorite food, then she could do it for at least another year.

Two days of visiting hot springs, mud baths, saunas and massage sessions were doing wonders to her temper. Avoiding any kind of messenger was also helping. After leaving the north pole, she had received a letter stating that Zuko was alive and he was a traitor along Iroh. She burned the paper and shut herself off inside her room. Her mindscape and Crisis became the only relief for all her pent up anger. The two halves of her mind fought without holding back anything, destroying all the created landscape around them. Her aura spiked from time to time and scared the soul out of the crew, even Rin. She was truly outraged for being deceived so easily. It took her days to calm down again. Thinking that her apprentice was dead when in reality he was alive but branded a traitor for escaping after murdering General Zhao. Ozai was getting more daring each day. Ordering her to capture him. She sent a letter in response that simply traduced to two words, fuck off. No more letters reached her up till this day.

Crystal was now so happy to notice, at least at the beginning, that someone else entered the room and took the massage table next to her, separated by a simple cloth panel. An hour later, the servants left her alone, so she could take a nap. But the person from the other side of the panel decided to voice its pleasure for the attention. She recognized who it belonged to in less than three words.

"Who would say that being stranded for weeks in a raft surrounded by hungry scavengers eager to devour our organs could make me so stressed?" Moaned Iroh enjoying the attention he was receiving. Then he paused and directed his words to the exit. "I see. Is the anniversary. Right?"

"It has been three years now from my banishment." Crystal´s eye widened like saucer after hearing the voice of Zuko. She took of all the needles from her body and stood up, remaining behind the panel to spy on their conversation. Her apprentice was sitting on the floor, his back resting against the framework of the door and his gaze fixed on the faraway sky. He was wearing a purple dressing gown, property of the spa, and a straw hat hiding his face.

"I have lost everything. And I will have it back. I want the Avatar. My honor. My throne." Stated the exiled prince in a steel like resolve but then he lowered his gaze to the ground in shame. "I don´t want my father to think that I´m worthless. And… disappoint my master."

"Zukoooo!" The young prince turned around in time to see a huge white and red thing crash onto him and capture him in a bone crushing hug. Zuko´s face was buried by a white towel that barely contained two massive orbs of flesh that could only belong to one person. The thick crimson snake tail surrounding him was another obvious giveaway.

"M-master" Choked out Zuko after he managed to push her off a little, but she hugged harder and buried his face again between her breasts. His whole body temperature rocketed up in an instant and his blush was just as red as her scales. Her figure was slender but beautifully toned, worthy of a deadly female warrior. Her chest size was the envy of thousands of women and the reason for all men to drool behind her back, never in front of her. " _So soft…and warm_ " Was the only though in his head in that moment.

Crystal pulled him out and pinched his reddened cheek while smiling sweetly at her apprentice. Iroh remained behind them, watching them silently, a blank expression on his face, and a drip of blood on his nose that he cleaned up quickly. "You have some explaining to do, brat." She scolded him in a motherly tone and then turned her gaze to the old general. "You too old man. You knew everything when I asked and lied to my face. I should rip you apart for that" Her tone turned dark and downright scary but Iroh put a kind and gentle smile just to throw her off.

"We can talk this with a cup of tea if you want." He offered in a placating manner. Crystal nodded reluctantly and guided them to her private room on the spa. She put on a red nightgown and allowed Iroh to prepare the tea. Once the three of them were sit and a hot cup of tea on their hands she started to talk.

"I suppose that you will explain me now why the hell you faked your dead and didn´t bother to tell me?" Her voice was calm, deadly calm and both males knew they had only two choices, truth or suffering.

"It was Zhao´s fault. He hired those pirates to kill me. In that moment, I decided that the best course of action was make him think he succeeded so I could infiltrate in his ship and capture the Avatar during the North Pole invasion." Explained Zuko in a serious tone.

Crystal´s eyes were fixed in her cup, rage so intense burning inside her pupils that could have evaporated the liquid in her hands. She was now thinking ways to revive the dead. Meanwhile, Crisis was drawing gory sketches of Zhao being tortured and maimed using red and black crayons " _What to use first?_ " Asked her dark half to no one. "Go on."

"I manage to enter the Water Tribe Capital and capture the Avatar in a secret oasis behind the palace. But I didn´t get far. I was ambushed by the two peasants that were traveling with him. They could have left me to die in the tundra, instead they tied me up and brought me back to the oasis. I escaped after Zhao killed the moon spirit and chased him. After defeating the Admiral he was killed by some kind of water spirit and then I left the city in a raft with uncle."

Crystal nodded after his explanation and then turned her gaze to Iroh. "Could you please tell me then… Iroh, what happened between you and Zhao in that Oasis?" It wasn´t a suggestion. Her voice sounded too sharp and menacing to refuse.

Iroh took another sip of his tea and resisted the urge to flinch "Zhao almost destroyed the world balance when he killed the moon spirit. Even our nation needs the moon, General Balkran, and I couldn´t allow the Admiral´s action to go unpunished. Once I defeated his guards he ran. Then the Avatar and the ocean spirit fused and started to attack the invading forces. I left the oasis and took a raft to leave before being capture by the Water Tribe." He explained slow and calmly. Not a care if he was declared a traitor by her right now.

"If the fish was killed… how did the moon turned back to normal?" She inquired suspiciously.

"The daughter of the Chief… she was touched by the moon spirit at birth and was gifted a part of its soul. She gave it back and sacrificed herself to revive the spirit." Iroh looked a bit down and grim by this event but Crystal just scoffed.

"Tch, spoilsport. I was having a good fight with the ocean spirit until it turned tails and ran back to its pond to be with the moon fish." She mocked as she emptied her cup.

Iroh looked at her scandalized and disgusted. "You fought a spirit? Why?"

"He damaged my lovely ship." She sneered.

"Uncle stop." Zuko tried to intervene before it escalated out of control.

"I also did it because it was attacking my soldiers and was outside the capital. I saved a lot of our people lives. You should be happy about that. Or maybe… maybe your loyalty isn´t with the Fire Nation, Dragon of the West." She took of the towel on her head and her long orange hair flowed down like a waterfall over her shoulders.

Iroh glared at her and spoke with the steeled resolve and authority of the legendary general that he once was when he made a breach on the walls of Ba Sing Se. "I´m loyal to the Fire Nation. Not my brother. Killing the moon spirit would have affected our nation too. So I did what I though was correct and I´m not going to apologize to you for that."

"Fine, say whatever makes you feel better. If the Fire Lord decides to have your head for this I will gladly present it myself to him in a plate with rice and soy sauce." Iroh grimaced a bit at the mental image but nodded knowing what to expect from her next time. "Zuko, you may doubt that your father has any love for you after so long…" The prince downcast look was heartbreaking to see but she held strong. "… but never doubt I care. I trust that you will complete your mission. No matter how long it takes. The only thing you need to do is get rid of the weakness that is holding you back."

Zuko´s eye lit like a shining star after hearing that she cared, and his expression turned into confusion when she mentioned his weakness. Iroh clenched his teeth in displeasure and anger, he seemed to know what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" Asked the prince full of curiosity.

"As you already know, your father preaches that kindness is a weakness. That there is no place for… attachments and bonds. I tend to say the same… but only for your enemies. Only those close to you deserve kindness. You must stop thinking about the consequences of your actions and focus on what you want. Nothing else matters. Close your heart to those that don´t deserve your time. Destroy any illusion of hope and forge your own path. Free your mind from the shackles of morals so no one can slow you down. Only then… you will understand… when nothing is left… the power of despair. Let it consume all the light that blinds you to the truth." A malicious and creepy smile turned her advice scarier and ominous. "Now gentleman, its time for my mud bath. Get out."

Both of them bowed and left her room in silence. " _Why didn´t you told Iroh he already is a traitor? We could have executed him on the spot."_ Asked Crisis, still drawing gory sketches for Zhao.

"Not in front of Zuko. He still needs to process what I have told him. Besides… its not Zuko´s hope I´m trying to destroy here. Iroh is the one I want to break. Losing Lu Ten was the first step. Zuko will be the last." Answered Crystal inside her mindscape.

* * *

Zuko and Iroh returned to the room they were staying inside the spa in an uncomfortable silence. Silence that didn´t last long. "Zuko, I know that you have always taken your master´s teaching seriously and to heart. But… if you follow that path… you will end up losing yourself. Hope is not something you should abandon. You will end up lowering yourself to the most basic instincts and become a beast. Hope is what gives us strength when everything else is gone." Iroh sounded extremely worried for his nephew. He needed to understand that following those teaching was the worst thing he could do. For his soul sake and the world.

Zuko stood there, deep in thought, watching the wall as if it possessed the secrets of the universe. "Maybe you are right…" Iroh released a breath that he didn´t know he was holding. "But I´m not going to dismiss her words so easily." His uncle was going to try to convince him more when the door of their room opened and a familiar figure that none of them desired to see right now entered.

"Hi brother dear… uncle." Greeted Azula in a formal and polite tone, a fake smile on her lips that put them on edge.

"What are you doing here?" Seethed Zuko, venom dripping from every word.

"In my country we say a nice "Hello" before questioning. Are you already so uncivilized Zu-zu?" Mocked the princess. "Remember that our master insisted on both of us be kind to one another. To behave like good brother and sister."

"Don´t call me that. And she isn´t here to force me to be nice." His tone was still filled with hate.

"And what do we owe this honor?" Asked Iroh in a more diplomatic but cautious approach.

"Hmm. I see is in the blood. You both are as impatient as me. I have a message. Our father had a change of heart. He realized that family is important to him. He has heard rumors that someone is trying to usurp the throne. Betray him. He regrets banishing you. He says that family is the only thing you can count on… and of course General Balkran." Azula averted her gaze to watch through the window, a sad expression on her face. Zuko was now a statue. His gaze fixed in the same direction as his sister, but his mouth remained shut. "He wants you back. Didn´t you heard me? You should feel happy, exited, thankful. I have just given you a wonderful new."

"Your brother only needs a mo-" Tried to explain Iroh in Zuko´s behalf who was just frozen in place.

"Don´t interrupt me uncle!" Shouted Azula in a burst of impatience. "I´m still waiting for some thanks. I´m not a bloody messenger. I shouldn´t have even bother to come here." Growled her, her cold merciless eyes trying to dig a hole in his head.

"My father regrets banishing me? And he wants me back?" Zuko couldn´t believe what he just heard. It seemed unreal. He had been waiting for those words to be true for so long. Now he could return home. But then the conversation with his master echoed in his mind. To abandon hope and forge his own path. He shouldn´t be swayed so easily for the promise of returning home. Not without the Avatar. If he came back empty handed… he would be disappointing his master. His honor would never be restored.

"You probably need time to digest this. I will be waiting for you in the docks. Good night." She said in a composed tone and left the room.

* * *

The princess walked through the hallway in search for a servant to ask for her master´s room. Instead, she found a door in front of her open and the person she was looking for slither out in a red gown eating an apple. When their eyes meet, Crystal´s lips curved a bit upward until it became a small gentle smile. "Az?"

"Mom? Eh…I mean, master?" Azula´s cold demeanor melted instantly, and a warm feeling burned in her heart. She didn´t need to pretend in front of her, not when they were alone. She may not be her daughter by blood. But she wished she was. Ursa always saw her as a monster. Always favored Zuko and feared her since she learned to fire bend. But Crystal… she instead cheered her and treated her like her own. When Ursa scolded her for making ruthless remarks about servants or her brother Crystal always backed her up. She had no doubt that she was her favorite apprentice, but she felt jealous of Zuko´s closeness to her. Like he was trying to take her away like he did with Ursa.

"You went to talk to your brother." It was a statement, not a question. Azula didn´t denied it and started to feel a bit uncomfortable by her master´s inquisitive gaze on her. Against her she wasn´t the ruthless fire bender prodigy and Princess of the Fire Nation. She was only her teenage adoptive daughter and her loyal servant. Crystal slithered next to her and put a hand over her shoulder.

"Y-yes." She stuttered a little.

"Why? What are your motives this time?"

"A mission of my father." She answered quickly.

"Let me guess… Ozai gave up trying to contact me and send you to capture Zuko and your uncle instead. And you made up a lie saying that he is wanted back at home." Said Crystal pinching the bridge of his nose.

"How did you-" She was stopped by a finger over her lips.

"Your father is predictable. I would have been surprised if he had sent someone else. I´m not going to interfere, Az. But I´m not going to help you either. Its your task and I don´t have time to take them to your father nor I want to." Crystal retrieved her finger off her lips and kissed her in the forehead. Azula´s cheeks turned pink for the motherly contact. One that she had been longing for.

"And what about the Avatar?" Asked Azula, now more composed and serious.

"I have places to go, dear. I´m sure that you or Zuko can deal with a twelve year old in my stead. If you by some chance fail… do something to make me feel proud. Now come… lets have a mud bath." Before the teenager had a chance to protest her arm was grabbed by an iron grip and dragged through the hallway.

* * *

It was night already and Zuko walked in circles inside his room. Thinking of what to do about the offer to return home. "Are we really going back home? After three years. I can barely believe it." In his mind he had two options. Swallow any pride left and return empty handed to the Fire Nation or refuse her sister and keep pursuing the Avatar. But he hadn´t told his uncle of the later yet.

"Truly incredible." His uncle sounded sceptic though. "From what I remember my brother never regretted anything in his life… except that time he peeked in the thermal pools in the palace when General Balkran was bathing."

"I didn´t need to hear that. What I mean is that… my father… he still cares." He wanted to believe his own words but again, the words of his master stopped him from raising his hopes. No, he didn´t believe them. He couldn´t keep lying to himself.

"I care about you too. But Ozai… he may not be wanting you to return for the reasons you think." Tried to reason his uncle.

"Uncle… I… I know" Confessed Zuko in a defeated tone.

"You do?" Asked Iroh flabbergasted.

"Or at least that's what I feel. Azula always lies. That much I know. _At least when our master is not present._ I just want to be sure. And if it's just a plot… the only way I could return home will be capturing the Avatar."

"You realize that what you will be entering in her trap? This is just too reckless of you and against Azula of all people." He scolded him in his grandfatherly tone but then he smirked mischievously "We should just run and leave her fuming for not following her game."

Zuko was tempted to do exactly that but he needed to kill the doubts that were eating his mind "No. I need her to confirm something first. It will rile her up more if I we go there knowing of her plan."

The morning came too fast for the exiled prince. He prepared a bag full of provisions that he would leave hidden once he approached the docks in case he needed to escape. After having breakfast they left the spa and went to the docks. Her master was nowhere to be found so he couldn´t say goodbye to her. The Black Fang was still anchored in the docks, so he was sure she hadn´t left yet.

Two rows of fire benders were standing along the path to Azula´s ship. She was at the top of the ramp that leaded onto her ship, a smug grin on her face. At the head of the soldier rows was the Captain of her personal guard ready to escort them. They both tensed they muscles and prepared mentally to fight but remained with a calm expression on the outside.

"Uncle, brother. Welcome." She bowed slightly and Zuko and Iroh returned the gesture. "I´m happy that you have come."

"Are you ready to leave, your highness?" Asked the Captain who was now standing in front of both of them.

"Yes, now we go home." Nodded Azula.

"Home." Whispered Zuko in melancholy, trying to crush his own hopes and convincing himself that this was just a trick.

"You heard the princess. Raise the anchor. We are taking the priso-" The captain turned himself into a statue due to the astronomical mistake he just made. He felt Azula´s glare directed at him as if she had just thrown him a lightning bolt, but he guessed that he would receive one soon for the slip up.

Zuko and Iroh nodded at each other and decided to be the firsts to attack. Iroh turned around kicking a soldier and punching another into the water. He dispersed some fire balls and launched back a torrent of fire making some of them jump out of the dock to avoid being burned. Zuko pushed the Captain out of the ramp and ran at her sister. But he wasn´t furious nor shocked by the betrayal.

"My suspicious were right. This was all a farce." Said the exiled prince in a disappointed tone.

Azula looked at him a bit stunned by his attitude. She expected him to be angry or at least shout at her. But not this. She positioned herself in an advanced fire stance and waited for him to attack. He didn´t move or prepared to fight her so she decided to use words to rile him up. "Yes it was. Father blames uncle for the failure in the North and has had enough of having you embarrassing him all around the world. Did you really believe he would have wanted you back because he missed you? Accept it Zu-zu. You are just a failure and you don't deserve to be our master´s apprentice." She spat the poisonous words with a sinister smile expecting him to attack her immediately. But to her surprise he just sighted.

"I must admit I didn´t want to believe it. But I suspected it. Tell me Az. If I´m such a failure… why I have been told about the secret power of despair." He smirked when she widened her eyes in shock.

"I was supposed to be the only one. You are not going to take her from me too!" She changed her stance and started to swing her arms in arcs around her, lightning dancing on her fingers. Zuko cursed inwardly by his stupidity. How could he be so reckless to taunt Azula knowing she could throw lightning at him. He was too far away from her to stop her or throw a fire ball at her. She pointed her index and middle finger at him and released the deadly arc of electricity.

Before he could react, he was pushed aside by his uncle and watched helpless as he stopped the merciless attack with a finger and… redirected it back to Azula´s feet with the other. The explosion launched Azula over the railing and to the sea below. Iroh offered him a hand and he took it instantly. They both fled the docks at full speed. When they passed in front of the Black Fang, Zuko raised his gaze and found her master leaning over the railing with her thumbs up. " _At least she stills backs me up_ " They kept running and took their hidden bags once they left the docks.

"Did you find out what you intended to?" Asked his uncle after he stopped gasping for air. They were far away from the spa and in the shore of a small river.

"Yeah. I didn´t even need to ask." Zuko took of a knife from his bag. It had an inscription in the blade that read: _Never surrender without a fight._

He cut his ponytail and threw it in the river, then he offered the weapon to his uncle to do the same. They weren´t exiles anymore. They were fugitives.

* * *

Azula had been summoned to the Black Fang by her master. She had taken a bath and changed clothed after falling into the sea. She had been cursing like a sailor until now. She entered the White Flame private chambers inside the ship and she had to admit it was breath taking. The armors, weapons, and stuffed animals where impressive and magnificent. The most noteworthy of all of the was the one over the massive bed where her master laid, her snake tail coiled around like a pillow, reading the wanted posters of Iroh and Zuko. It was the head of a white dragon, a huge one. On the opposite side of the wall hanged another head almost as big as the dragon but this one was different. It looked like a sea snake and its scales were dark green.

"It looks like they escaped from your grasps. Az, if you want to catch your uncle you will need to be more cunning and precise than this. You should leave that horrible junk that you crashed in the docks. Speed and agility will be your strengths in enemy territory." Said Crystal in a lecture tone before burning the papers in her hands.

"You are right. To catch my prey I need to outmaneuver him and strike when he less suspects it." The gears in her mind were already working at full capacity thinking how to do it. "It may be time to visit some friends of mine. An elite team has more chance of success."

"Good. Rin will go with you. She has something to deliver and a message for Tarik who must still be in Omashu. And don´t worry. She is at yours commands unless its an order from me which you cannot override. Is that clear?" Ordered Crystal in her White Flame mask.

"As you wish, master." Azula remained still waiting for General Balkran permission to leave but then she remembered something that Zuko told her. "Master, can I ask you something?"

"Shoot" Said Crystal in a more relaxed voice.

"It´s true that you told my brother the secret to the power of despair?" She stood straighter and a bit tenser. Questioning her master wasn´t a great idea but she needed to know.

Crystal looked at her in the eye and chuckled darkly, making her shiver "It´s true. If he falls into despair your uncle will be broken beyond salvation. The thing is that I want your brother to take your fathers place after this war ends. If you remain loyal to me until the end… then I promise your reward will be even better."

"What could be better than the throne?" Asked Azula intrigued by the offer.

"How does immortality sound for you?" Those words almost made her pass out.


End file.
